Government Sen. Reginald Burrows pointed out a potential flaw in his own Government's initiatives during the Senate debate on the Throne Speech last night.

In the Throne Speech, Government promised to ensure that housing for staff - both expatriate and Bermudian - was part of every new hotel development on the Island.

"The days of same salary but housing thrown into the package are over," Tourism Minister Ewart Brown later told the House of Assembly. "No longer will our people be made to compete against the expatriate worker on anything but a level playing field ... The provision of a basic benefit like housing traditionally unavailable to our people will send a clear message that this Government is serious about growing this industry and growing it correctly."

However, providing housing for staff at new hotel developments could prove very costly, Sen. Burrows warned the Senate last night.

Some developments, like that at Tucker's Point, were fortunate in already having facilities where staff could be housed, he said.

Housing for staff at a new project, however, could increase the cost of that project significantly for new developers - and the cost of hotel development already stands at around $1 million per room, Mr. Burrows said.

"That's astronomical ... Unless we can get that lower, I don't think we can attract new developers."

Government has provided no further details on how such an initiative would be administered yet.