Jeanne Atherden, the Leader of the Opposition, has called on David Burt to release “an unredacted version of the deal to build a new hospital wing”.

The challenge was raised by Ms Atherden on Friday, during the inaugural Premier’s question time segment of the orders in the House of Assembly.

During the half-hour of questions, the One Bermuda Alliance head asked the Premier to issue the full public private partnership for the Acute Care Wing at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, saying Mr Burt had made an earlier commitment to release the contract.

The Acute Care Wing opened in September 2014. Under the PPP, its construction was financed by Paget Health Services, which incurred the debt for the project, with the Bermuda Hospitals Board then paying the company in instalments. BHB’s service payments also cover maintenance of the building.

In a statement issued today, Ms Atherden said the project’s total cost to the taxpayer was “still unknown”.

During the Friday sitting of the House, Mr Burt told the Opposition that he did not recall making specific reference to the hospital contract, but added that he was “more than happy to keep that commitment”.

Ms Atherden said today that the pledge had been made while Mr Burt was Opposition leader, during an interview with Bernews in which he said he would release the contract unredacted if the Progressive Labour Party returned to the Government — adding that there “cannot be too much transparency inside Government’.

She said that a year had passed since the July 2017 General Election.

Ms Atherden added: “The OBA was derided over the airport plan — which continues to create jobs for Bermudians — but had released every bit of detail regarding the contract into the public domain that was possible.”

She said the release showed the party’s “absolute commitment to transparency” and asked if Mr Burt would “do the same”.