Government leaders may turn to private partners to help pay for a second cruise ship pier in Dockyard.

Already $20m dollars has been set aside in the new budget for the project, but that represents only about 60 percent of the anticipated cost- another $15m will have to come from the next budget.

When asked how the second budget allotment will be paid for, Premier Ewart Brown, who is also Tourism Minister, said: ?It will either come out as a capital expenditure or we may engage in a public-private partnership with the cruise lines.?

Such a partnership would provide some relief to taxpayers, but the cruise lines will be expecting something in return.

Dr. Brown added: ?They form a closer relationship with the Government, I think it gives them a better chance at being considered when schedules are being formulated. If they?re co-owners of something they expect to have a greater say.?

According to the Premier, these kinds of partnerships have been brokered in other jurisdictions and he predicted one could work well for Bermuda.

The Dockyard port enhancement is needed, according to proponents, because the smaller traditional cruise liners are being phased out to make room for larger Panamax ships.

The Panamax ships won?t fit through Town Cut in St. George?s or Two Rocks Passage near Hamilton, so the burden of the bigger cruise liners rests solely on Dockyard.

Ultimately, the new project would allow two Panamax ships to dock simultaneously. Passengers could be ferried to various parts of the Island.

The announcement of a new Dockyard port arrives after the numbers of 2007 cruise ship visits were released, which showed 180 visits this year, 11 more than in 2006 and 34 more visits then in 2004.

Visitors arriving by cruise ship in 2006 were up by 36 percent with a total of 336,299 over the 247,258 in 2005 and the focus on cruise arrivals is part of Dr. Brown?s objective to increase overall visitor numbers.

A $35m expense, however, to further promote the cruise passenger product, is not going to make everyone happy, especially because the cruise visitor doesn?t spend nearly as much on the Island as the air visitor. It?s a point the Premier agreed with.

?It?s an established fact,? he said. ?But our position is that a cruise visitor is better than no visitor and that?s what we used to have.?

So by those parameters, it?s difficult to see what benefit the $35m project holds for local tourism businesses.

The Premier responded: ?No that?s not quite true. While we?re rebuilding our bed inventory, we decided we still wanted to have some tourists. A: because a cruise visitor is better than no visitor and B: because those cruise visitors represent potential land visitors in the future.?

The Premier has argued the race to rebuild tourism lies in a revitalised hotel industry. That?s why he?s been a strong advocate of the luxury hotel proposal at Southlands.

But his affinity to allow commercial construction at that historic Warwick property is one of the reasons he is at odds with some sustainable development campaigners.

Premier Brown is now apt to point those critics to the 2007/2008 budget where he set aside $236,000 for sustainable development.

It?s the first time in three years there?s been a specific allocation for this purpose.

The Premier said: ?Let?s talk about the fact that the press have implied that sustainable development has been dropped as an issue by this Government.

?I expect the line item in the budget scuttles that because we don?t budget for things that are not important.?

When Premier Brown assumed the leadership from former Premier Alex Scott he was widely criticised for not including the words sustainable development in his Throne Speech. He also balked at the chance to broach the subject when he gave a national address earlier this month marking 100 Days in Office.

Perhaps the Premier?s harshest critic on this subject is environmentalist Stuart Hayward. The Premier refused to reappoint Mr. Hayward to the sustainable development roundtable. Ever since the two men have been on opposing sides of just about every environmental issue, particularly Southlands.

After the Premier?s 100 Day Address Mr. Hayward said: ?There is no mention in the statement whatsoever of Sustainable Development.

?It would appear that former Premier Scott?s initiative on sustainable development has been relegated beyond the back burner.

?When so many Bermudians were encouraged to take part in surveys, questionnaires and public meetings, it is extremely disappointing to have all that public goodwill disregarded.?

Erin Moran?s group Greenrock also advocates for sustainable development.

She said: ?It clearly appears the focus of his PLP Government administration is heavily weighted towards economic development. Yet, four months ago, the former Premier, Alex Scott, stated his PLP Government administration stressed the importance of planning ahead with equal weight on the areas of economic, social and environmental issues. So which PLP Government is right??

Even though the phrase ?sustainable development? has been missing from major speeches, the Premier argued the topic is still in the forefront of his mind.

He said: ?Absolutely, what happened was we had a change of administration, a change of leadership and composition of the roundtable. And now we?re ready to go.?

When pressed for an explanation on how the $236,000 would be spent in the next fiscal year, the Premier said: ?I don?t want to lock them (the roundtable members) in.

?I expect they will examine and comment on all major Government projects not just construction projects, but all major projects and initiatives. All of them.?