The 2015 Ag Show has been scrapped after the Bermuda Government told organisers that the event would be limited to two days.

The community action group behind the move to keep alive this year’s edition said today that it was told it could use Botanical Gardens only on Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19, instead of the previously announced three-day period from April 16 to 18.

In an announcement, the group said: “We are obviously extremely disappointed by Government’s decision not to allow us to use the public Gardens for our planned three-day show, especially after receiving initial, in-principle approval.”

Group member David Lopes said: “We started hearing that they didn’t want it for three days. They wanted it to be two days, Saturday and Sunday. I was hoping it was wrong.

“If you read the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), it’s just impossible to put on a show like that. It’s a three-day show. You can’t cram it into two days. Sunday was going to be our break-down and clean-up day. It’s just not going to work.”

Mr Lopes also said that the Government told organisers that several of the buildings at Botanical Gardens could not be used during the event owing to hurricane damage suffered last year.

However, he said that two of the four buildings that the Government said were damaged have been used since then; one for hosting a poultry show and another for a weekly farmers’ market.

While he said he knows that one of the buildings has a leaky roof, Mr Lopes added: “I don’t think they are as damaged as they are making them out to be.”

Craig Cannonier, the Minister for Public Works, defended the Government’s position, adding that the MOU was agreed in good faith that the Ag Show could be held as planned. But, ultimately citing “safety and health reasons”, the proposed dates for the show were not feasible.

“In drafting the MOU, the ministry staff identified the work that would need to take place before we could set a date,” Mr Cannonier said in a statement. “Remediation work had to be carried out on many of the exhibit buildings and grounds. The Department of Parks had worked diligently to assist with the organisers, however there were some aspects and requests that we were unable to accede to due to potential legalities and liabilities.

“Additionally, despite our effort to repair the damaged buildings and trees in the grounds, some areas would not have been available for the show due to safety and health reasons. In spite of the major challenges, we were willing to offer Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19 as the proposed dates. This afternoon we learnt that the organisers have decided to cancel the event.”

Mr Lopes said that there still may be a poultry show held in lieu of the cancellation, as the farmers had already begun readying themselves, but it was too soon to say where or when it would be held.

“I’m disappointed because an awful lot of people have put in a lot of work to make this happen,” he said.

“We cannot let the [Agricultural] Exhibition die. It won’t go on this year, but it gives us that much more time for people to come to their senses because it can pay for itself.”

Antwon Albouy, meanwhile, said that reducing the show to two days would have negatively affected the Bermuda Equestrian Federation’s plans for the event, with the changes not believed possible to be made in such a short time frame.

He also noted that under the MOU, the organisers would be required to clean the site by 10am on the Monday, while in the past organisers have been given until the Wednesday after the event.

“If we close at 6pm on Sunday, that would give us less than 24 hours to break everything down and clean up,” he said.

The Government announced last month that the 77th Agricultural Exhibition would be cancelled as part of a cost-cutting measure agreed upon by the Bermuda Trade Union Congress and the Government after three days of industrial action. It was a decision that Premier Michael Dunkley said would result in savings of $400,000.

One Bermuda Alliance Party backbencher Jeff Sousa subsequently announced a campaign to resurrect the event, later revealing that an “Ag Show” would be held in April.

The group tasked with staging the show incorporated a company by way of limited guarantee, for charitable purposes, with a view to adequately safeguarding funds donated by private and corporate sponsors.

The bylaws of the company clearly state that if the company is wound down, any proceeds would be disbursed to local charities.

However, with uncertainty hanging over the event, the fundraising committee had intentionally withheld receipt of committed funds, pending the signing of a MOU with the Government.

The limited company also served to protect the personal assets of the guarantors and other committee members, alongside a $5 million insurance liability policy.

The group said: “Much has been said about why we set up the company and those who might have wished to malign the efforts of the community action group may have suggested that our intent was less than honourable, while nothing could be farther from the truth.

“Everyone on the committee was a volunteer, no matter how many hours they spent organising volunteers, exhibitors and negotiating the terms of reference with Government, no one was paid.”

While in negotiations with the Government over the MOU, the committee said that it was asked to withhold from making any public statements on the planned event, thus rendering it impossible to explain to the public why and how things were being done.