Bermuda is in danger of becoming a Third World nation unless it starts making plans to safeguard its future, former Premier Sir John Swan warned Rotarians yesterday.

After giving a robust speech that was ?not as billed? yesterday Sir John also mentioned that he felt the recently published BIC report was slanted in a pro-Independence way.

Sir John led the United Bermuda Party from January 1982 to August 1995 stepped down in the aftermath of his failed 1995 Independence referendum.

Action needs to be taken now if Bermuda is not to fall by the wayside on the international stage and face the overnight deterioration of its infrastructure because of the possible flight of international business to the US or elsewhere.

Pointing out that 80 percent of the Island?s business is internationally owned, Sir John said the US was becoming like Bermuda as manufacturing jobs headed east to China and India and were replaced with service industries.

?That?s why I say do we risk becoming a Third World state? We could find another Bermuda being created on the Eastern coast of the US. We should be planning something else if 80 percent of our income is held largely by half-a-dozen people who could decide to do something else.

?That?s how fragile we are,? warned Sir John. ?We have an infrastructure that would deteriorate overnight. We have to look at alternatives so we do not get caught out.?

And speaking to after his speech at a meeting of the Hamilton Rotary Club, where he was guest speaker, Sir John made a brief comment on the BIC report.

He said: ?I get the impression it was written more for Independence. It would have been better if they?d addressed the question of having a referendum or no referendum.?

Sir John had been expected to talk about ?Individual and Institutional Initiatives? but took the floor with an address asking if Bermuda is heading for Third World status. He had scathing words on what he perceives as failures of the PLP Government during the past seven years, criticising it for the overrun of the Berkeley senior school construction project and claiming that had a private company overseen such a project it would have gone bankrupt.

And he warned the country not to blame all its problems on foreigners. ?The economic engine of Bermuda is driven primarily by foreigners. We must do everything to continue to create the social and political environment that the international and the financial sector require in order to satisfy the needs, expectations and aspirations of all Bermudians. Our economic survival now depends on it. We should be welcoming our guest workers who are only here by our consent through government policy and whose labour plays an instrumental role in our prosperity.

Sir John continued: ?We should stop blaming them for all our social ills. We need their services not only to do essential jobs, but their expertise and involvement in many charitable, voluntary and sporting activities. We must embrace all people, even those who do not look like us.?

Moving on to the subject of independence, he said: ?The incompetence of the Government does not inspire confidence that this Government can take us to independence in a judicious, orderly, efficient and comprehensive way.

?With such a track record it would be prudent for the Government to step back and do something that demonstrates competence before putting the issue to a referendum.

?I am not against independence, but I am against incompetence that might lead us to independence.?

And Sir John called on more scrutiny of the government by business, unions and the media.

He said: ?This country is obviously on a downhill slide and I am struck by the civic and social partners: i.e. the unions, Employers Council, hotel employers, the Chamber of Commerce, BIBA, the Corporation of Hamilton, the UBP and even the media who have become complacent in their scrutiny of the Government?s management of the country?s affairs. I remember a time when they would not hesitate to criticise me and the Government of the day.?

He also feels that the United Bermuda Party might have ?some good aspects, but their more recent lack of popular appeal has only given the Government the feeling that no matter what they do, the UBP is not seen as an alternative by the majority of Bermudians?.

He added: ?What we have now are people who don?t have demanding jobs are in politics. The people more likely to be capable of managing are not in the jobs of managing the country. The quality of the management has deteriorated. We need the business community to encourage young people to get involved.?

Summing up his thoughts Sir John said: ?We need to acknowledge our problems and the worth of the individual by becoming civil, maybe a little humble and less racist by all sides.

?Our destiny is determined by the mind, body and soul of every Bermudian. What do you want for Bermuda will determine what the next generations will feel is worth sacrificing for future generations. When we have reconciled our differences with one another through an individual assessment of our own ways and deeds, maybe then we can make a determination about the greater good for our future.?