The Premier's office yesterday failed again to alleviate fears expats will be excluded from free rides on public transport.

In Friday's Budget statement, Finance Minister Paula Cox, referring to the Progressive Labour Party's high-profile General Election pledge, announced "free bus and ferry fares for Bermudians" would be introduced on a phased basis.

This week, The Royal Gazette has been seeking clarification from Glenn Jones — Premier and Transport Minister Ewart Brown's Press Secretary — over what this means. On Monday morning, we suggested to Mr. Jones that Ms Cox's wording may have caused some people to jump to the conclusion — perhaps wrongly — that expats would be left out of the scheme.

Mr. Jones replied: "The planning to deliver free transport is a work in progress."

This newspaper then repeated that we were asking for him to clarify whether the initiative would apply to just Bermudians, or cover all people.

He did not reply.

Our report yesterday explained that no clarification had been provided on the issue, and included comments from local bloggers speculating about what Ms Cox may have meant. Yesterday evening, Mr. Jones sent out a statement to all news organisations on the Island, claiming our story was sourced in "speculation" and the "blogosphere" — even though it was clearly sourced from page 20 of Ms Cox's statement.

Mr. Jones said in his statement: "Today's Royal Gazette article about free publication transportation is sourced in 'speculation' and the 'blogosphere'. Those words are pulled directly from the article. An intelligent reader will know that neither of those places are reliable sources for information — a newspaper should know that too.

"With those sources properly discounted the only news on the subject of free public transport is as follows: The planning to deliver free transport is a work in progress.

"Only speculation and irresponsible reporting can turn that simple sentence into discrimination against any group.

"The Ministry of Tourism and Transport today reiterates that the free public transport initiative is in the development stages and NO decision has been finalised with regard to its phased implementation. It would obviously be unwise to talk publicly about the details of this plan before the plan is complete."

However, his statement failed to say whether the scheme would apply to Bermudians only. Last night, we asked Mr. Jones once more for clarification, but received no response.

Association of Bermuda International Companies chairman David Ezekiel also expressed concern over Ms Cox's words.

"We feel that free public transport, when combined with the introduction of school buses for private schools, will greatly reduce traffic on the roads, which is clearly a major concern for all of us in the community," said Mr. Ezekiel in a statement.

"On this point, however, we were alarmed to note in the Budget statement that free transport would be provided to Bermudians only. We would ask Government to urgently revisit this policy, as we believe it would be entirely inappropriate, not only on moral grounds, but also in the unnecessary administration load.

"There are many Bermuda residents employed on work permits whose economic needs are as severe as those of many Bermudians, and we believe that any new initiatives should be introduced for all residents, and be extended to our valued tourists."

PricewaterhouseCoopers was another group to pick up on the wording, listing under the topic "Social Agenda" in its review of the Budget: "Free bus and ferry fares on a phased basis for Bermudians (no further information available)."

To read Ms Cox's Budget statement — and see where The Royal Gazette sourced its story — go to www.gov.bm/portal/server.pt and click Budget Statement.