Works and Engineering Minister Alex Scott took steps to clear the record following allegations of corruption and irregularities at the Berkeley Senior School project made in a sworn statement by a UBP approved candidate.

Mr. Scott said yesterday there should be no doubt as to the inaccuracy of most, if not all, of the information "spouted" in the affidavit.

His comments mark the latest round in a war of words and accusations, which began in Parliament on April 26 when the Mr. Scott made a Ministerial statement to the House saying he'd become aware of a politically motivated plot to illegally obtain official documents from the Works and Engineering Ministry.

Mr. Scott claimed an approved UBP candidate had stalked and harassed a senior civil servant to try and obtain documents related to the project.

Mr. Scott has never named the individual to whom he referred but it was later revealed to be Roger Russell and a sworn affidavit from Mr. Russell containing his version of events was released to The Royal Gazette on Friday. In it, Mr. Russell denies harassing the Works and Engineering officer and said the man voluntarily offered him information because he was concerned about corruption at the $70 million mega-project.

In his statement yesterday, Mr. Scott first countered Mr. Russell's claims of irregularities in the awarding of the contract. "Contrary to an individual whom The Royal Gazette referred to by name, indeed Pro-Active Management Systems Limited (Pro-Active) was found to be qualified for the pre-qualification bid for the contract to build the new second Senior School," Mr. Scott said.

"Again, if we are to be guided by the facts, Pro-Active was formed as a company prior to the awarding of the new second Senior School contract.

"In fact, the record will show that Pro-Active were in the midst of construction at the aquarium site, a project headed by the then Ministry of Environment, and it is also informative to note that also they were building houses for the BHC group before they were successful in the winning of the new second, Senior School tender."

While Mr. Russell's affidavit claims he has been told the Berkeley budget may soar as high as $100 million due to delays and other problems, Mr. Scott said he had sought advice on projected costs from the project manager yesterday.

"The manager informed the Minister that at this time it would be difficult and inappropriate to attempt to accurately predict the final cost of this or any similar project of this scale and scope," the statement said.

Mr. Scott also took issue with claims made about the financial management of the project, saying that all payments and their supporting data reside on the payment file for review and assessment.

The Minister said the officer referred to in Mr. Russell's affidavit "is not and has not been involved in the approval of payments on behalf of Government - the process falls to management and the Architectural Division".

He added: "In fact, all payments are subject to a countersignature with at least one signature being the Permanent Secretary, Comptroller or the Chief Architect."

Mr. Scott said the officer involved has also sworn out an affidavit which will be revealed over the course of the Police investigation, which contradicts many of the claims made by Mr. Russell.

For example, while a meeting did take place at Stonington Beach Hotel, the Minister said those who were in attendance will attest that the officer never left the meeting prior to its completion.

"Never, ever did he make any comment about corruption or was the subject even raised by senior Members of Parliament who it is alleged asked him to change (non-existent) reports," Mr. Scott said.

The officer's affidavit will also confirm that he never feared that his job or position on the project was at risk and that no one in Government has ever threatened him, Mr. Scott said.

With regards to an alleged trip to Canada to pay for steel, while the officer made several trips to Canada for various reasons with the permission of Cabinet, at no time had he ever taken a payment for any reason because all payments are initiated at the head office in Hamilton. The officer also said no payments were made to steel companies from Works and Engineering, according to Mr. Scott.

"I will conclude the statement by observing that the fact that I have not addressed every allegation does not mean that these allegations stand unchallenged," Mr. Scott added.

"It just means that potentially libellous statements may be dealt with in an appropriate manner during the course of the investigation and the avenues available to the various individuals, who may feel they have been wrongly accused, may seek their own legal remedy in the appropriate manner and forum."

And the Minister again expressed his concern about Mr. Russell's actions toward the civil servants family.

"How did this individual know where his child went for day-care," Mr. Scott asked. "Most of his closest co-workers do not know where his child goes for day care."

According to Mr. Russell's statement, the officer told him he could always catch him at the day care which is only roughly 100 yards from Mr. Russell's family home.