The Auditor General should be replaced on a regular basis and his remit reviewed in an attempt to ensure fairness, Works and Engineering Minister Alex Scott claimed last night.

He said in other jurisdictions around the world, someone is appointed to the position on a set contract and then removed, to bring new eyes and a fresh approach to the auditing of Government finances and projects.

Mr. Scott spoke out following a week of allegations and counter-claims over Auditor General Larry Dennis' controversial special report on the $70 million Berkeley School project.

Mr. Scott hit out at Mr. Dennis again last night, and claimed he had been "editorialising and politicking" when putting together the "unbalanced report", which claimed the project was seriously delayed and questioned the legitimacy of the performance bond.

He also questioned why only this year the issue of Bermuda Housing Corporation had arisen, when official audits had been carried out on the quango housing agency for years.

"If you go outside of Bermuda, the Auditor General has a specific period which he is in office and he steps down and others take his place," said Mr. Scott.

"Over a period of time, the Auditor General happens to audit his own handy work. In other jurisdictions, after a period of time he is changed.

"Maybe that is what is happening here. Maybe he is ensconced in a position to the point where we ask is he as objective as he should be, or is he editorialising and politicking."

Mr. Scott said everyone should be audited by someone, and the auditor was no exception.

However, he also questioned why the BHC scandal had only raised its head this year.

He added: "There is a routine audit of things all the time. BHC did not just have problems. One would have thought if he can find the problems this time, why did he not find the problems before, many of which existed before this Government came into being?

"Were there alarm bells from this auditor before?"

Mr. Scott said it was not for him to suggest how long an Auditor General should be allowed to stay in position, but said Bermuda could look to see what other countries did.

He said perhaps a review of this auditor's term was needed, and said although he would not be officially suggesting that to the Premier or the Governor, he was doing so through the Press.

Mr. Dennis' report created a huge stir when it was released to Parliament last Friday. It claimed that technical officers at the Ministry had recommended the project go to now bankrupt BermudaTech Ltd, and that Pro-Active Management Systems Ltd, which was eventually awarded the contract, was "high risk".

The report also questioned the validity of the $6.89 million performance bond (insurance) put up by Asset Union Holdings, owned by the Bermuda Industrial Union.

Mr. Dennis, who has been at his post for 24 years, said he still had not seen the original copy of the bond, and doubted whether or not the union or insurance company could meet the claim, if called upon.

That led to an angry outburst rife with racial overtones against Mr. Dennis from union leader Derrick Burgess this week, who claimed no such special report had been carried out of projects under the previous Government, and he said the union could more than meet any $6.89 million claim.

Mr. Burgess stated in a written release: "The Auditor General's behaviour indicates that he shares the all too common belief that people of African descent are illiterate and chained in darkness, and for them to have any type of success, they must be duly humble and suitably subservient."

He added: "His behaviour suggests he believes that we in the BIU are descendants of slaves and have no right to expect courtesy or consideration."

However, Mr. Burgess has since denied that he was accusing Mr. Dennis of being racist.

The union leader said at no point did Mr. Dennis contact him to ask questions before putting his report together.

And last night, while Minister Scott would not be drawn on the race issue, he said he could understand Mr. Burgess's defensive stand:

"I can understand why the president was upset. He is head of an institution that has defended workers. It has pulled itself up by its boot straps and is now a large entity; a theatre, garage and union and no one as ever questioned how it's run financially.

"Suddenly, a report comes up and it's a risky proposition."

However, Government backbencher Dale Butler had something different to say on the report yesterday, and said he actually welcomed it.

"I don't at all feel the auditor needs to be shot down in any way," he said. "I thought it was a very professional report that would enable us to pat us on the back for the things we have done right, as well as ask us to question whether or not the criticisms are valid. He had a responsibility to paint the picture as he saw it."

But Mr. Scott said he was not the only one in his Ministry upset by the report - he said all of his technical officers and staff were "not fans of the Auditor General".

However, sources have told The Royal Gazette that many technical staff are "relieved" the report is out there as they were fearing they would be made the fall guys if the project went wrong.

Mr. Scott questioned why the Auditor had not carried out a special report and released it to Parliament on the Spice Valley Middle School redevelopment, which was in the process of being done by BermudaTech when they went under earlier this year.