BERMUDA is failing the underprivileged members of its society, leaving unemployed, unskilled and semi-skilled workers to believe a life of crime is the only option they have for survival, Sir John Swan has claimed.

According to the former Premier, a lack of job opportunities in tourism and its related industries have left many out of work and without the necessary skills to make the transition into a predominantly white-collar workforce.

"The demise of Bermuda's tourism industry has created a growing number of people who have now been put in a position where they are unable to find work," he said. "Gardeners, housekeepers, errand runners, painters, bellmen - they're all suffering. International business depends on traditional services and these people have found themselves without the skills required to fit into a traditional office environment.

"They have no desire to deal in criminal activities but find themselves committing criminal acts because they're not meeting their financial needs and believe they have no other choice. We need to create employment for these people.

"What we need to do - what the public and the private sector need to commit capital towards - is to turn tourism around; to create an arena for these people which relies on multiple skills for its success."

Left to their own devices, he said, many turned to drugs and alcohol for comfort, a fact which made the situation all the more dire.

"These people feel that they have so much stress. They can't find a job. They feel that society is failing them and so they turn to drugs. They then develop cravings which they feel must be satisfied by any means. The tourism industry spawned far more opportunities for a hustle than international business.

"For the most part, these jobs could be done in the evening while holding down a day job and they required less skills and training than jobs generated by interational business. These jobs are no longer in abundance as they were during our tourist boom years. The majority of taxi drivers in the 1960s and 1970s, for example, were night drivers.

"Today, taxi drivers cannot afford to hire another driver because of a lack of business. If they can't get a hustle for the money in a legitimate way, they will get it in an illegitimate way. I've noticed a change in the quality of our society.

"People no longer care for people. And that there's a deterioration in the number of institutions to help those with psychological ailments and addictive habits does not help. We are all responsible for the quality of life of our people and instead we're cutting back on those institutions that support the prevention and curing of addicitons.

"We need to establish a social conscience; we need to have a social contract so that the less fortunate feel there is a caring process in place. With 3,000 people per square mile, Bermuda is too small for any of us to ignore the plight of these people.

"These people will invade your home. They will come in while you are working or sleeping and take what they want and that puts society at risk. We can't leave them out on the street. Their problem is our problem."

The problem, Sir John said, was brought to his attention by the rising number of unemployed men congregating on the streets.

"From time to time, as I've travelled around Bermuda, I talk to young men on the streets," he said. "They have always been courteous but have expressed concern about why they can't find a job or an opportunity to do some type of work - a hustle, if you will - on a part-time basis.

"They need money for the basics - for lodging, for food, for child support, even for drugs. And if they can't find that money, they often feel that the penalty for lack of child support payments, for example, to be greater in some cases than the penalty of theft. At least with a robbery they might not get caught.

"This is what's being said to me. Crime is on the increase and the number of beggars on our streets continues to grow. We have people out there who I believe want to work and once used to work. The number of people who rely on social assistance continue to escalate but it's mainly females.

"The programme is a lot less friendly to males than females. It is somehow assumed that men can always find something. They get the impression that society doesn't care about their employment needs; that society isn't interested in helping to keep them out of trouble. It is a real problem out there. Not enough people talk about it. We need to do something about it now."

What we do, or decide not to do, added Sir John, would determine the society of our future.

"It's incumbent on us to adopt a strategy that will revive tourism and its related industries in order to prevent what is seen as a growing threat to tourists and international business and to the well-being of our locals. With foreigners especially, when their privacy is threatened they don't complain.

"But the business traveller becomes afraid to leave his family. It puts his job in jeopardy which, particularly if he's in a senior position, can put his company in jeopardy, which can cause the company to consider relocating. They depart without comment but the reality is that as there was no ready fix, they assumed the problem to be part of an on-going threat.

"We need to address these real issues in our community. We need to try and offer opportunities and some structure instead of ignoring the problem. Tourism will help solve the problem. It's people-intensive and its revitalisation will affect employment not only in hotels, but in shops, in restaurants, it will provide fares for cab drivers.

"We need to build the country's morale. We need to find a way to redesign the tourism business so that it gets back to some sort of critical mass."