Environmentalists described themselves last night as "highly distressed" at claims by global insurance chief Brian Duperreault that the Premier was stalling the Southlands land swap deal.

A statement from Bermuda Environmental and Sustainability Taskforce (BEST) said if the allegations were true then Ewart Brown had reneged on an agreement with the public and a commitment to support Bermudian entrepreneurs.

The Greenrock charity told The Royal Gazette it believed "political sabotage" was to blame for the fact that the exchange of the 37-acre Southlands estate in Warwick for 80 acres at Morgan's Point, Southampton, had yet to happen.

BEST said it feared Southlands owners Mr. Duperreault, Craig Christensen and Nelson Hunt would "revisit their plans to develop the [Southlands] property, with the worst possible outcome being that both Southlands and Morgan's Point be targeted for major hotel development".

Campaigners fought to save the pristine Southlands plot in 2007 after a proposal was made to build a resort there. The owners agreed to swap the site for part of Morgan's Point and an agreement was signed in April 2008 which has never been completed.

Both opposition parties last night questioned why negotiations between the two sides appeared to have broken down.

Shadow Tourism Minister Michael Dunkley said of Mr. Duperreault's comments, reported in this newspaper yesterday: "One has to ask why a highly respected Bermudian — a man who has achieved tremendous business success at an international level — felt the need to go public with concerns about the Premier's handling of Morgan's Point development plans.

"Brian Duperreault knows how to conduct business. His reputation and character are beyond reproach. So when he accuses the Premier of unfairness, people must take notice."

The United Bermuda Party politician said the remarks indicated the Southlands directors had been "toyed with" by Dr. Brown, as well as "misled, misdirected, diverted, put-off and stalled".

"They have been made to jump through hoops that international developers have not," said Sen. Dunkley. "Their questions have not been answered, their concerns not addressed; and they have been forced to conclude the Premier is not acting in good faith."

Katherine Michelmore, deputy leader of Bermuda Democratic Alliance, said Government should clear up any doubt about whether the Special Development Order (SDO) granted in 2007 for a hotel at Southlands was still valid and explain why the estate remains zoned for tourism when it should be preserved.

And she questioned how far Government had got with plans to clean up the environmental damage and pollution at the former US Naval Air Station at Morgan's Point — work expected to cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

Dr. Michelmore added: "The Alliance requests that Government responds to these concerns by making public the original agreement regarding the land-swap and by explaining the reasons for delay."

BEST, which was set up in 2007 in response to the original Southlands development plans, said in its statement: "The Government entered into a set of agreements: with the developers, the residents of the area and their neighbours, more than 3,500 petitioners, indeed with the people of Bermuda.

"The developers were invited by Government to swap land parcels — they agreed. Now, some two years later, we hear from Mr. Duperreault that the Premier does not want the land swap.

"In our view this is a blatant breach of contract. We used to be able to count on a gentlemen's agreement. It seems that day has passed. We share the outrage of the Bermudian owners/developers."

Andrew Vaucrosson, of Greenrock, said: "It's a real mess and it's unfortunate that here is a group that was trying to do the right thing and now, down to political sabotage, things are now even worse."

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