21.   Two House subcommittees held the joint hearing on how the regulations will affect small operators.

22.   Yet small operators are being squeezed.

23.   Even some shrimp farmers agree that limits have to be set and wastewater management implemented, something rarely practiced by small operators.

24.   He vehemently opposed computerisation of the stockmarket and argued that the move would strike a death knell for the small operators and jobbers.

25.   Many argue that the concentration of spending power in the hands of the large teams will eventually send other small operators to the wall.

26.   The failure of small operators to align themselves has given Hongkong Telecom a chance to take over the market with the Pacific Link deal.

27.   The plan brought immediate protests from fishermen, who said it would cost far too many jobs, especially among small operators.

28.   These apparently comprise small clandestine operators who hang around the diamond district luring workers into changing good stones for substandard ones.

29.   But delegates questioned the practicality of the suggestion in a country where most second-hand dealers were small operators lacking the means to purchase sophisticated camera equipment.