Minister of Home Affairs Michael Fahy has described the notion of Bermuda’s proposed immigration reform opening the floodgates to foreigners as a “myth”.

The minister was speaking during a live interview on the government-owned TV station CITV hosted by Charles Webbe. The show, which opened up questions to the general public, focused on Senator Fahy’s controversial proposal to grant permanent residency to those ordinarily resident in Bermuda for 15 years, and Bermuda status to those who have PRC status and are here for 20.

Senator Fahy said that going by previous census data and other related data, he envisaged about 100 people would gain permanent residency or Bermudian status per year.

“If it [the Bill] was to pass today you would have 683 people able to make an application for permanent residency and about 800 for status but that number is likely to be lower.

“We are talking far less than thousands; we are talking about people who are already here.

“In terms of numbers going forward, we believe it would be about 100 per year.”

Senator Fahy was joined by Attorney-General Trevor Moniz during the interview. Sylvan Richards, the Junior Minister of Home Affairs, was absent from the live chat because of family obligations.

During the interview, Senator Fahy rubbished the idea communicated to him by race relations group Curb that the aim of the change in policy was merely to “whiten the electorate”.

“That is complete and utter nonsense,” Senator Fahy said.

“It is sad indeed that anyone would make that allegation without a shred of evidence.

“We don’t ask what race they are. I asked Curb would they accept it if all the applications were black. It shouldn’t be on our agenda and it doesn’t bother me which way they vote.”

Mr Moniz added: “We have been elected to stimulate the economy.”

A large portion of the questions centred around what the Government was doing to protect, train and retain Bermudians in their own country.

Senator Fahy highlighted several measures including the creation of the National Training Board to offer more training opportunities to Bermudians and the Jobs Board that alerts the public to jobs, required skill sets and work permits that are up for reapproval.

He also mentioned the increased penalties imposed for those who flout the immigration rules.

The issue of a lack of educational opportunities for Bermudians on the island was raised — one caller asked whether the minister was prepared to address it. He replied: “Education has been nowhere the level that it should be. We have not been equipped as Bermudians to fulfil all roles at a highly technical level that is why we have had permits reapproved in these highly specialised areas.

“It is a long-term problem that will take a long time to fix.”

One question, seemingly unrelated to immigration policy, was whether Senator Fahy planned on running for premier, to which he replied: “I would hope to eventually run in an election.”

During a break from the phone lines, CITV screened interviews with some of those who will be eligible to apply for status under the proposed immigration policies and also delivered facts surrounding the reform.

Asked why he had not taken a more bipartisan approach to immigration reform, Senator Fahy answered: “I’ve had any number of conversations — the PLP position has been no offering of status until we become independent. We can’t start at that starting point.”