Shadow Minister of Sport Jon Brunson has branded the new motorsport track at Southside ?unsafe? and is urging Government to resolve safety issues before someone gets injured ? or worse.

Revealing that the long-awaited facility is now being boycotted by the Bermuda Karting Club (BKC) because of safety concerns, he said members of the Bermuda Motorcycle Racing Club (BMRC) ? who share the premises ? have expressed similar sentiments to him though that association is using the compound.

At the heart of the matter is the lack of proper protective barriers which BKC insist must be put in place before they race on the track which now only has single lines of tyres between its lanes as buffers.

Brunson and BKC officials contend these are not enough to prevent a serious accident or injury should a kart ?wipe out? on the track and possibly collide with another kart. Repeated petitioning to Government, which commissioned and paid for the complex, has brought no success.

?In October 2004 there was a promise that the track would be available in six to eight weeks. We?re now in May, 2005, and though there is a track there is a critical issue ? safety,? declared Brunson.

?Government has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop this . . . and they have led the motorsport community to believe that they would have a facility that?s safe.

?Now, the karters are unable to use down there and they are discouraged and frustrated by their interaction or lack of interaction with the ministry.?

The Opposition parliamentarian added that representatives of both clubs had told him that they were informed by the Ministry of Sport that there was no funding for the barriers. Producing a letter which the BKC sent to Government in March, regarding various concerns at Southside, Brunson highlighted the karters? desire to help solve the problem.read part of the correspondence to which BKC say there was no reply.

Former BKC executive member Michael Lindo yesterday reiterated their position, stating emphatically: ?We are not starting our season until we get the barriers so we obviously won?t be racing until then.?

He added there had been talk that Government might acquire the barriers by September but the karters were not prepared to sit idly until that time.

?We?re not going to wait until then. We?re going to try and get some financial backing to get them before that time,? he announced, adding ?there are a few possibilities so hopefully they will come through.?

Again with supporting documentation and diagrams, Brunson lambasted the ministry for claiming they had no money for the protective barriers when, he charged, funds were wasted in the track design.

According to him, Canadian consultant Carl Bastedo was hired to design the dual-purpose track but his plan was subsequently cast aside for one by a ministry employee with ties to motorsport.

?That money that was spent on the consultant ? whose plan was then discarded ? could have been used for the barriers.

?My concern is that we have spent money and hired people to do a job and the job is incomplete. We need to ensure, as elected members, that we act responsibly in terms of how we manage sport.

?This Government has lost its way and it needs to deliver on its promises. We have to get the safety component right before the track can be used with any confidence and comfort.

?Karters have asked for these sturdy plastic barriers and it?s incumbent on the ministry to ensure they are supplied. It?s not just adults who are down there racing, it?s kids too.?

Alluding to late karter Jason Matthew?s death in a crash at Clearwater in April 2002, Brunson continued: ?Motorsport has suffered one death already so you can understand why safety is such a critical issue to them and it should be.?

Lamenting the impasse that has arisen between Government and the BKC, the shadow minister called for a speedy resolution, stressing that ultimately it?s ?the hundreds who enjoy and participate in motorsport that are suffering?.