The United Bermuda Party last night challenged Government to explain the current state of the new Berkeley Institute, and also demanded that arbitration between the original contractors, Pro-Active, and Government be held in public.

This follows a recent Press conference when Works and Engineering Minister, , said the school would be ready in September, but that the Berkeley Institute had decided to only open the school in January next year.

in the House of Assembly last night, Shadow Minister for Works and Engineering asked Mr. De Vent to inform the public when the school would be ready, more specifically the gymnasium.

She said the response she received in writing from Mr. De Vent this week was that the gymnasium was scheduled to be complete and handed over to the Ministry of Education and Development by October 25 this year.

"The school year starts in September, so by virtue of what the Minister was indicating, it would suggest that it was his intention to allow students to occupy that site in September and now he is saying it was the Berkeley Educational Society that made the determination that they won't go there until January. But if I had to listen to what the Minister was saying that the gymnasium was scheduled to be finished on October 25, then clearly it was the intention of this Government to allow students to occupy that premises fortheir educational purposes prior to the completion of construction," she said.

Mrs. Gordon Pamplin said Mr. De Vent had said earlier this year that certain zones would be handed over to the Ministry of Education upon completion, no later than May 30, yet according to his response to her in writing, so far none of the zones had formally be turned over for outfitting.

"I think that somewhere at the commencement of this project there was a timeline, based on a contractual arrangement that would have identified the time at which this project was going to be completed. I believe it was intended that students occupy that school in September 2003. When that date went by, we were told it would be completed in September 30, 2004," she said.

"We have given so many opportunities for the Government to understand, recognise and admit to the people of this country that they made a mistake, that they have misled us and that they told us the school would be ready a year ago and it's still not ready," she said.

"What the Government must understand when they make commitments to the people of this country, if they can not keep that commitment, have the testicular fortitude to stand up and say they have made a mistake and let people understand what is happening because it makes us look like a bunch of banshees on this side of the house trying to get information to be able to respond to the people of this country whose $121 million have gone by the wayside in an attempt to try and get a project completed," she said.

In connection with the impending arbitration, Mrs. Gordon Pamplin asked if the Government would allow the people of Bermuda to listen too and understand the arbitration process.

"We'd like to know that when the terms are being discussed, the tax-payer will have a clue as to what happened to his $121 million," she said.

In response to the delay referred to by Mrs. Gordon Pamplin, Mr. De Vent said many of the zones (A, B, F, G, H) comprising general classrooms, business classrooms, teachers' preparation areas, visual arts rooms, special education rooms, language classrooms and washrooms and other support facilities are completed.

He said they were scheduled to be handed over in June.

"Once we fired the other contractors and the new contractors came on board, the plan has been to hand over zone by zone so that the Ministry of Education could take them over and outfit them. It has become their intent to do it all at one time, that's how they want to do it," he said.

Mr. De Vent said zone C ? which comprises the food preparation areas and the "cafetorium" and the back of the stage areas for the performing arts on level one and on the upper levels, the Administration Offices including the Principal's office and other support staff rooms , meeting rooms, security and facility manager's spaces, counselling offices, communication spaces (photo lab, video area) textiles teaching room and nutrition teaching room ? was scheduled to be handed over to the Ministry of Education at the end of July.

Mr. De Vent said the central plant which incorporates all the mechanical and electrical infrastructure for the facility would be substantially completed by mid-July, while parts of zone D ? including the resource centre and science labs ? are scheduled to be ready for fit out and handing over in August.

The design and technology area on the lower level will be the last to be handed over in this zone by September 5, while zone J would be handed over in September while the gymnasium is scheduled to be substantially completed and ready for use on October 25.

On the topic of arbitration, he said this was an agreement between two parties, whether public or not, and generally arbitration concerning construction matters was always held in private.

The performance bond, he said, was part and parcel of the arbitration.

Mrs. Gordon Pamplin interrupted Mr. De Vent asking if the performance bond would be called on the new contractors if they did not meet the date by which they were due to complete the project according to their contract.

Mr. De Vent said "it was covered".

Opposition Leader, took the floor and said the public was not concerned about construction slippages from March until June, but construction slippages that range up to $50 million and are now some two plus years late.

He said the only way to give the public a good understanding of what was involved in the project that had 70 percent overruns on the cost of the project, which the Government had estimated would be $71.2 million in the 2000 budget and was now also two years late, was to have the arbitration procedures by public.

"We are talking about tax-payers' money here and the last thing the public wants at this point is not to have some closure to what has been one of the largest and most dismal projects that we have ever seen in Bermuda," he said.

He ended by saying that a UBP government would seriously consider a commission of inquiry into a project of this magnitude that has gone so badly wrong and over time and budget.