Bermuda Land Development Company's lease over the former US and Canadian Baselands can be extended to 2258, under new legislation tabled in the House of Assembly.

Currently, the maximum lease stands at 131 years, but that will be doubled to 262 under the Baselands Development Amendment Bill.

The lease was granted by Government to BLDC in 1996, shortly after the Americans and Canadians handed the Baselands, measuring 1,300 acres, back over to Bermuda.

The move was designed to encourage development, but the lack of progress since then has been heavily criticised, while the responsibility for the clean-up of military waste remains a bone of contention.

Morgan's Point is now the subject of a proposed $2 billion tourism resort including a 325-room main resort hotel, 80-room boutique hotel, condominiums, beach villas, golf course, boat club and retail plaza.