The Bermuda Cement Company (BCC) has confirmed it will be shutting down its 40-year-old operation at the end of the year after what president Jim Butterfield described as ?diabolical? treatment from its landlord the West End Development Company (Wedco).

And according to Mr. Butterfield, the Government quango now appears intent on taking over the business itself, having asked the BCC to hand over its operational information ? which includes staff salaries and the names of cement importers it deals with.

?It is a very sad day for Bermuda when a Government quango can essentially drive a privately owned local company out of business ? especially one which has been an exemplary tenant for 40 years,? lamented a frustrated and disillusioned Mr. Butterfield yesterday.

All this comes after the BCC and Wedco had announced in January that the four years of often acrimonious and bitter lease negotiations had come to an end with the award of a new 20-year lease ? an agreement heralded at the time as a good deal for all concerned.

The saga began when the BCC approached its landlord in 2001 to ask for permission to significantly refurbish the existing cement plant as well as new 20-year lease.

This request was initially rejected by Wedco, who said that all cement operations in Dockyard would cease when the BCC?s lease expired at the end of 2005.

The BCC then purchased two acres of additional land at Ferry Reach with the intention of building a new plant ? only then to be told by Wedco that cement distribution could continue, but that the lease would be put out to tender for other potential bidders.

Faced with the prospect of bidding on its own enterprise, the BCC sold the land in Ferry Reach and willingly entered into the bidding process, from which it emerged successful.

The terms of the new lease required, however, that the BCC move to a brand new site 300 yards away at Dockyard?s South Lot, tear down the cement silos at the current site, make 20 percent of the company public and fork out $100,000 a year in rent, up from $48,000.

On further investigation however, the BCC discovered that the new site on offer is in need of a very expensive clean-up before construction can begin, while the cost of building a new plant is also significantly higher than the $3 million the company had originally estimated.

The new site was described as ?a dump? by Mr. Butterfield, complete with bilge oil tanks and abandoned cars which would cost over $200,000 to put right. The BCC subsequently informed Wedco that the new deal was not financially viable, while repeating its desire to go ahead with the original proposal of refurbishing the current site.

Wedco has rejected this out of hand however, and will now allow the BCC?s lease to expire, but not before preparing to take over the $4 million-a-year business.

But an angry Mr. Butterfield told he believes Wedco has been committed to seizing the company his father started from the very beginning of the process ? although he feels they have greatly overestimated how lucrative the business actually is.

?I think they see this as the great golden egg that they have wanted to get their hands on for a while,? he said.

?But as a lawyer on our side keeps reminding them, this is a cement company not a gold mine. It is a very small company that has done its best in its 40-year history to look after the staff, the community, the construction companies and the shareholders and to keep the price of cement lower than all the other Caribbean islands. And we?ve accomplished this. But I think it is absolutely incredible that a Government quango can come along and do this type of thing.?

Mr. Butterfield said he had no desire to be uncooperative and disrupt the supply of cement from the Island?s only distribution centre ? while also expressing hope that the company?s six-strong staff would not be affected by the change.

He will be asking Wedco to buy the plant?s fittings and equipment however, Mr. Butterfield added, expected to cost in the region of $200,000.

?I?m angry, sad and disappointed,? he concluded.

?I just cannot believe it has come to this, having devoted 21 years of my life to it.?

Attempts to contact Wedco Chairman Lt. Col. David Burch were unsuccessful by Press time.