general manager of Elbow Beach's work permit was the right one.

For some years now, exempted companies have been allowed to appoint the chief executive and chief financial officers of their choice; in the case of large, foreign-owned hotels, owners deserve to do the same.

This is not to say that Bermudians should be barred from these positions -- the Island has many experienced hotel managers who are well versed in the local market and bring skills to the industry which non-Bermudians may not.

There are several examples of just such managers in Bermuda now, including Dennis Tucker, who has rightly become the chief executive of Sonesta Beach, and Michael Williams, who now runs Pink Beach after many years of managing large properties in the Bahamas.

But hotel owners should not be restricted to appointing Bermudians to these positions; having invested hundreds of millions of dollars in their properties, sometimes for very little return, they should be able to appoint the person they can most trust to look after their properties. And very often, these people, like Bill Shoaf at Elbow Beach, bring skills and experience to the Island which might not be available locally.

In a statement released on Saturday, Home Affairs Minister Paula Cox has stated that two other work permits sought by Elbow Beach have not been renewed because there are qualified Bermudians who need to be interviewed. And she has maintained that Government has not backed down and has said it is "unconscionable that Goverment should be threatened in this way''.

She may be right, but Government has to recognise that it has to strike a balance for the good of the whole community.

She also says that "generally, on matters of work permits, we do not place matters in the public domain''. That seems to be a policy change from when the Progressive Labour Party was in opposition, and it is not necessarily right, especially when, as in this case, a subordinate could sit in judgment of his superior's application for a work permit.

It has to be assumed that when Mr. Shoaf's work permit renewal came before the Immigration board, Elbow Beach human resources manager Robert Calderon declared his conflict of interest and excused himself, but if that was not the case, that would be unconscionable too.

COLOUR PRINTING EDT Colour printing Keen readers of The Royal Gazette and our sister paper, the Mid-Ocean News, may have noted that our pages have looked a good deal greyer in the last couple of weeks with little or no colour advertising or colour news photographs to be seen.

We have not stopped publishing colour, but we are adding new equipment to our presses which should, in the long run, enable us to publish more colour with greater consistency and regularity.

In the meantime, we are having to hold back on our colour printing to allow the new equipment to be installed and to reconfigure the press to accommodate it.

In time, following extensive training and planning, we will be printing more colour than ever before. This will accommodate our advertising and editorial needs and should result in a more readable and vivid newspaper. Ultimately, colour is more "real'' than black and white and when it is printed well, it is more appealing. We hope you will agree.