Two years after construction began on the multi-level ACE and XL buildings on Bermudiana Road, some businesses in the area are speaking out about the problems the building project has caused them.

The two reinsurance giants have spent millions of dollars on transforming the old Bermudiana Hotel site into offices for their employees.

Some businesses have struggled during the construction work and said they were shown very little consideration.

Ann Smith, the owner of Oxford Guest House, which is located diagonally across from the construction site on Woodbourne Avenue, said the initial two years of construction had been hard and, at times, unbearable with the added dirt, dust and noise.

"The dust was bad at first,'' said Ms Smith. "It's a picnic now compared to what it once was. Fortunately I haven't had to close, but it's meant a considerable amount of work with the dirt.'' Mrs. Smith said the traffic, which included flat bed trucks and other construction equipment, was a major concern now and had caused a problem for her guests.

"The traffic on Woodbourne Avenue is the worst,'' she said. "You can hardly stick your nose out the door. It's the speed they come up at and there has been more traffic and more accidents.'' "The guests however are quite understanding,'' she continued. "They want to know what's going on.'' However, Mrs. Smith said she believed that once the buildings were completed, the area would be a little less congested.

"I think it will be better in time,'' she said. "I think they've done the best they can. I would rather have the park land, but they gave them the permission to build, so what can you do?'' In contrast, Marine Locker sales manager Linda Down was not as understanding.

"Parking out here has been hard,'' she said. "We had a real problem with the cement mixers and flat beds lined up outside the shop.

"Our customers couldn't park, the dust in the store was awful, our air conditioning maintenance guy was in all the time and, personally, my car was ruined because every day it had an inch of dirt on it.'' Ms Down maintained that it would have made a considerable difference if the construction engineers showed "consideration'' for disrupting the normal flow of business.

"They could have put some kind of screening along the wall to keep some of the dust in,'' she said. "But they're like `it's nothing we can do'.'' "And every once in a while on a Saturday, they'll close the road off to allow trucks to park here,'' she continued. "Saturday is our busiest day! We understand that progress has to be made, but they could be more caring to their neighbours.'' Lobster Pot Manager Eddie Bardgett added: "We were going to do outside dining on the corner, but it doesn't make sense now.'' Mr. Bardgett said he was also bothered by the amount of dirt, dust and traffic congestion the building site had caused for his establishment.

"Anyone that walked in, walked in dust,'' he said. "It got to the point where we had to replace our whole carpet.'' Mr. Bardgett is optimistic that business will improve with the completion of the two buildings.

"I've been here for 18 years,'' he said. "We've had construction all around us. Hopefully these two businesses will create some business for us.'' Oleander Cycles manager Michael Leseur said he was also worried about the confusion of traffic in the area, but noted that it was a moot point to argue the cause.