Mr. Scott came in for a barrage of criticism in March this year, including from the Bermuda Industrial Union, after announcing that contractors working on the site would be paid a bonus each week for every Bermudian they hired.

In turn, he said the money would be spent by the firms on providing training for their workers.

Then Government came under fire for choosing Pro-Active as the general contractor when it was a little-known firm with little history, and unknown finances. It had also put in a bid for $70 million even though a rival bidder for the contract, BermudaTech, had put in a bid for $65 million.

Further trouble followed when Mr. Scott and Pro-Active refused to name the company that had formed an insurance business solely for the purpose of putting up a bond for the project.

That organisation was later revealed to be the Bermuda Industrial Union, whose president is Government MP Derrick Burgess.

And only three weeks ago, contractors trying to win work on the site complained they were being forced to negotiate with the Bermuda Industrial Union and pay union dues, or face the possibility of losing the jobs. At the same time, the union admitted that the site had been declared a "union site" - a statement which was then denied by both Government and Pro-Active.

Mr. Adderley said yesterday that Pro-Active should no longer be in the negotiation stages with its suppliers, but instead should be already receiving the materials.

He added: "There should not be a lull like this. Apparently, the draughtsmen are drawing up the plans for the steel work fabrication, but you would have thought they would have been done before. It will take six to eight weeks before the steel is shipped here.

"Unless they are trying to negotiate different prices, I don't understand what the delay is. Maybe if they are trying to claw back the $5 million that they threw away, then they may not be trying so hard to meet the deadline.

"I also suspect they have spent too long talking about whether the site should be unionised or not and it has delayed the programme."

Mr. Scott said earlier this week that he was satisfied the programme was going to plan, and work was going on behind the scenes.

He said Pro-Active was still on course for the September 2003 deadline.