The Park Hyatt lease could be discussed and debated in the House of Assembly and Senate in just 14 days, according to Opposition Whip John Barritt.

Mr. Barritt was responding to the decision in the Senate last week which passed the Park Hyatt (St. George's) Resort Act 2008 as long as the Government agreed to table the lease in the House of Assembly and the Senate.

The lease will not be debated, though the Opposition expressed concern about its length.

According to terms included in the Bill, Developer Carl Bazarian will now lease the hotel portion of the land for 131 years, and 262 years for the portion of the land for the condominiums.

Yesterday, Mr. Barritt said there were avenues that could been taken, such as an affirmative resolution by Government, which could allow the House and Senate to debate and agree on the lease in as little as 14 days.

He said: "With respect to the leases about to be entered they could be done by 14 days if you did it by affirmative resolution.

"It has been done in the past. Which means Government can proceed as quickly as they need to, should timing be an issue — which is what we were told it was in the case of the Park Hyatt.

"Tabling the leases after the fact means at least we will know to what our Government has committed. It leaves open for question for another day what if anything can be done about it if there are any problems."

Warnings were issued by Government Senators about the need to push the bill through to ensure that Mr. Bazarian would begin building.

Last week, Opposition Senator Michael Dunkley had initially put forward two amendments to the Senate which would have allowed the House and Senate to approve the lease before it could be entered.

However, the Opposition agreed that as long as it was tabled then the Senate would approve the bill. If the bill had returned to the House for amending it would have delayed it a year.

Mr. Barritt said he believed that the public was at a disadvantage now because they have not seen any more details about the lease than the acreage and the rental price each year.

"I have always thought leases of public property ought to be shared through the medium of Parliament. On sales the most important thing is price and acreage — and we get that information.

"When it comes to leases, it's the terms of the leases, that is, the terms to which each party has committed, and that's just not price, and for how long, but what the lessee is permitted to do (or not do) with the land.

"That's why proposed leases ought to be tabled, in advance — and that is not always the case."