Marc Bean has accused finance minister Bob Richards of misleading the public with his claim that financial instructions were waived for the airport redevelopment deal.

Mr Richards released a memo last week showing that Accountant-General Curtis Stovell approved the Bermuda Government to waive financial instructions on its early deals for the controversial project.

However, in a statement, the Leader of the Opposition argued that memo only shows approval was granted for the first phase of the scheme.

Mr Bean stated: “The admission in the Public Accounts Committee meeting on Thursday, November 19, from the Accountant-General, that permission has neither been requested nor received by the Minister of Finance, to act outside of financial instructions, is proof positive that the One Bermuda Alliance Government is a government without financial conscience, and a government that is willing to lie and deceive the Bermudian people to achieve its goals at any cost.

“The memo that was subsequently released by the finance minister was a desperate attempt to pull the wool over the public’s eyes.

“Yes, that memo shows an approval by the Accountant General, however, that approval was for the first phase only.

“For the government to proceed further, into signing the airport development agreement, approval to act outside of financial instructions would have to be sought and the Accountant-General would have to sign off on this.

“At the PAC meeting, the Accountant-General was clear that this had not happened, and that the Government did not have the appropriate permissions in place.

“It is disappointing that the Premier and other members of the OBA Cabinet have been silent over this behaviour. However, one would think that this admission would at the very least cause the Governor and the Auditor-General to become interested in what is going on. Instead, thus far it seems to be business as usual.

“The Progressive Labour Party has articulated our plan to handle corruption in government and to enhance the standards of good governance.

“We have condemned corruption in any and every form and have expressed our displeasure, regardless of which administration it appears to be under.

“It is time for the Premier and the OBA government to deal with speculation about possible corruption within their ranks rather than only referring inquiries to the PLP administration. The people of Bermuda deserve better.”