Wedco has hit back at accusations it snubbed black empowerment by handing the cement contract to Maxcem — claiming angry rival Myron Piper made no attempt to show his company was any more diverse.

And chairman Walter Lister claims Mr. Piper failed to raise concerns over the bidding process until the day before the deadline — by which time three others had already presented complete proposals.

"Perhaps Mr. Piper would not be happy with anyone but himself receiving the lease," said Mr. Lister in a statement.

Mr. Piper launched a verbal attack on the West End Development Corporation last week after his company, Island Cement, lost out to Maxcem for the ten-year Dockyard Cement Facility lease.

He claimed Maxcem, whose main shareholder is Dennis Correia, had an unfair advantage because it had been leaseholder already for more than two years and had prior knowledge of conditions put in place by Wedco. In contrast he said his own company was set unrealistic deadlines in the Request For Proposal and requested an extension, which was denied.

Mr. Lister has now responded in a statement: "The RFP for the lease of the cement silos in Dockyard was open to all and any qualified Bermuda entity.

"The make-up of that entity (how diverse) was indeed part of the selection process. Mr. Piper has not even attempted to suggest in his statement that other bidders or himself could or would offer a more diverse ownership.

"Note an RFP was never even received from Island Cement despite, as he says, several years of preparing at either this or any other location on the Island.

"Perhaps Mr. Piper should have not waited over two weeks to collect the RFP; Mr. Piper should have read the RFP and as offered contacted the Wedco office to discuss his concerns.

"Instead on the afternoon before the submission was due he hand-delivered a letter which was opened and replied to the next day. Wedco had already received three other very complete proposals prior to ever receiving Mr. Piper's request of extension."

Mr. Piper had likened Mr. Lister to Pontius Pilate by washing his hands of the matter and allowing the contract to go to Maxcem.

Mr. Lister responded: "Wedco did complete a very open and fair RFP process. Due consideration was applied to all submissions and a decision was made to award the lease to Maxcem for a period of ten years.

"I might remind Mr. Piper that it has been almost ten years already since Wedco and the Bermuda Cement Company started the lease negotiation process.

"The ten-year lease term Wedco has just issued is a relatively short time period in business. This lease provides stability for the industry and the international supplier has consistently supplied the Island with cement without major disruptions.

"Unfortunately Mr. Piper did not submit an RFP or even take the time to make contact with Wedco throughout the entire RFP period despite years of suggesting that he is prepared for an RFP opportunity at this or any other potential site in Bermuda.

"Wedco is now moving forward and we know the decision that was made was done so correctly and will provide a stable supplier of cement for the next ten years."

Mr. Lister said Maxcem had pledged to open an extra 20 percent of shares to the public as part of its bid and stressed while Mr. Correia is majority shareholder there are other people and entities involved with the company.

Mr. Piper had called for the Auditor General, Attorney General and Progressive Labour Party leadership hopefuls Paula Cox and Terry Lister to hold a public discussion on the bidding process.

He accused Premier Ewart Brown of being like Caesar in not "giving a damn about his subjects" and criticised Ms Cox, the Finance Minister, for her silence on the issue.

Wedco is run by a board of directors and does not require ministerial oversight when awarding contracts.