Latecomers were forced to stand in doorways and corridors at the first of five meetings to discuss Bermuda?s sustainable future which attracted a packed audience in Hamilton last night.

Premier Alex Scott was amongst those who listened to the public discussion at the Leopard?s Club, which focused on the question of Bermuda?s economic health and its long term future.

Around 170 people filled the venue to hear four panellists and air their views and questions at the first of five meetings to discuss the draft Sustainability Development Strategy and Implementation Plan.

Amongst issues raised were questions about young Bermudians being left out of the Island?s economic good times because they have the wrong ? or even non-existent ? skills, education and training needed to secure a job that keeps them afloat on an Island where it is increasingly expensive to live.

Some members of the audience spoke about continuing examples of institutionalised racism, giving examples of their children going overseas to learn a professional career only to return to Bermuda and find employment doors closed to them.

And while the Island has an economic success story that is the envy of the world, the flip-side is the effect it is having on the Island?s own people, who are priced out of the housing market and have limited job opportunities.

Panellist Craig Simmons, economics lecturer at Bermuda College, spoke of an unethical streak within the Bermudian mentality.

?All too often what drives us is the dollar and greed, especially in property. The older generation has betrayed the younger generation. My gain is their loss. That is something to work on as a nation ? to find new and creative ways to earn a living without price gouging.?

He also felt that Bermuda?s young people should be encouraged to do more than aspire to a job in international business, instead they should set up their own businesses and become ?producers?.

Butterfield Bank president Alan Thompson thought there was a high degree of integrity within the Bermudian population. He said the challenge with the sustainability plan was to ensure there was a bias towards action.

He said: ?The challenge is to make it more inclusive. Bermuda is dependent on its financial sector and tourism. A diversity of the economy is crucial.?

Plans to encourage entrepreneurship and small business were important, he argued, adding: ?We need to move rapidly to implement them. It adds a lot of jobs. In the US today the job growth is coming through the small companies.?

Mr. Thompson felt encouraging Bermudians to set up small businesses would ?go a long way to sustaining the economy and addressing social issues?.

And he argued one thing the Island has to do better is produce a workforce with analytical and problem-solving skills that are essential for most 21st century jobs.

Dr. Eugenie Simmons, Bermuda College?s director of workforce development, said Bermuda has to look at where the gaps are in the workforce and indicated the folly of training hundreds of young people to be accountants to fill current vacancies when that skill may become instantly redundant should the Island?s prospects change in the future.

She said: ?We want an infrastructure for whatever business comes to our shores. I suggest looking at other gaps in our labour market.?

Dr. Simmons pointed out that a large percentage of Bermuda?s home-grown workforce do not have the qualifications and educational attainments being sought today. She later mentioned occupations such as nursing, plumbing, painting and mechanics as ever-in-demand jobs that Bermudians should be trained for and pointed out that 28 percent of Bermudians have no formal qualifications.

She said: ?There is no way I can mandate an employer to hire people who have no qualifications.?

Social commentator Rolfe Commissiong spoke of an ?education lag? that began in the 1980s when, he said, the Government of the day failed to prepare future generations of young Bermudians for the shift from a tourism-driven economy to one shaped largely by international business.

?We did not see a commitment from Government at the time to prepare the workforce for the changes within the economy,? he said.

During a question and answer session, moderated by editor Bill Zuill, issues raised included the need for a place where Bermudians can set up and operate their own start-up businesses, a need to address a lazy work ethic seen in some portions of the workforce that has left one businesswoman contemplating bringing in overseas workers because she cannot find Bermudians willing to work on weekends.

Another woman defended Bermudians? work ethic and spoke of a need to return to the situation in the 1970s when one week?s pay equalled one month?s rent. She said: ?We were very happy people and no one had to steal to feed their children.?

Newspaper columnist and former Government Senator Calvin Smith asked if there might now be a need to slow down Bermuda?s overheated economy which has priced many out of the housing market and caused other imbalances.

After the meeting Erica Smith, director of Sustainable Development, said she was delighted with the turnout. She said: ?This is the type of debate that we need. We do not say that we have all the answers.?

Comments aired at the meetings will go towards consideration for a final sustainability development strategy and implementation plan.

Premier Mr. Scott, who opened last night?s meeting, said he would continue to urge the public to think of ways to help Bermuda?s sustainable future by finding alternative ways to get to work and lessen the impact of cars and bikes on the Island?s roads.

He intends to catch the Rockaway ferry to work next Wednesday to set an example.

An edited version of last night?s meeting will be shown at 8 p.m. next Monday on VSB TV and 8 p.m. on Tuesday on ZBM.

The second meeting of the series will be held on August 8 at the new venue of the Bermuda Industrial Union headquarters starting at 6 p.m.