The waste of taxpayers' money by Government has gone on for too long — coming to a head with a multi-million dollar payout for contravening a company's exclusive rights — and needs to be tackled immediately, according to UBP leader Kim Swan.

Mr. Swan spoke out after Government paid out $2.75 million in public funds to settle with Bermuda Aviation Services' (BAS) for breaching the company's exclusive rights to offer private jet services at LF Wade International Airport, which ran until 2014, by giving rival operator Sovereign Flight Support permission to provide a private jet service.

Government was also ordered by Supreme Court to pay up more than $202,569.16 in damages for contravening BAS's rights, as exclusively reported by The Royal Gazette last month.

Shawn Crockwell, of the Bermuda Democratic Alliance, also slammed Government for wasting taxpayers' money on unnecessary legal proceedings, particularly in such economically tough times when it needed to raise funds most, and questioned its motives for pursuing the case.

"The court proceedings involving Government and BAS appear to have been a waste of taxpayers' money as the legal issues were straightforward and BAS was successful at the arbitration hearing," he said.

"We have no real issue with Government seeking to have the legal matters in dispute resolved by arbitration but to further pursue the matter by commencing legal proceedings in the courts is clearly not a prudent use of the people's money, especially at a time when the Government is struggling to raise revenue.

"One has to wonder why Government was adamant in fighting this case and who it was trying to protect. It clearly was not the people of Bermuda."

Mr. Swan said many people had been living in denial for some time about what was really happening, but had now woken up to the realisation in the wake of the economic crisis and the credit crunch.

Above all, Mr. Swan was most concerned about the impact on the businesses involved, with BAS having to fight a costly and lengthy legal battle to prove its case, as well as losing out on business, while Sovereign lost its private jet licence after having invested a significant amount of money in converting a former US Air Force building into a private jet passenger terminal.

"My initial concern was that something doesn't smell right with all this," he said.

"What causes me more concern is how could Government give a business a contract after it already had a contract with in place with another company?

"It is almost as if they have set these guys up to walk into a bee hive."

Mr. Swan said a number of entrepreneurs and small businesses had suffered a similar fate, having put their livelihood on the line, borrowing money from the bank to launch their business at the same time as having to pay off their mortgage and incurring other expenses, all in good faith, only for their dreams to be scuppered by something as basic as a breach on contract because Government had not done its job properly.

"How could a caring Government encourage people to do that?" he said.

"I think there is more untold than told in this situation and we need to get to the bottom of it.

"After all, to start off in your business and then find out you are embroiled in someone else's fight seems very wrong."

He said this was the latest in a line of Government mistakes at great expense to those concerned and the public at large, adding that Government needed to come under closer scrutiny with proper investigation into such matters.

"We have seen this all too often with this Government," he said.

"What has concerned me on a number of fronts is there is a great deal of micro-managing from the political end as the civil service takes the hit too often for poor political decisions.

"Here you have got two companies — Sovereign, who went into business and got a contract in good faith — and then BAS, in the same situation, again acting in good faith.

"The taxpayers should have been outraged years ago on a number of fronts, not just this, but the Bermuda public, now that we have had a financial wake-up call, are starting to demand answers and want to know where the money is going.

"The ultimate recourse is start to express these issues vocally and to tell your politicians enough is enough — we have certainly been doing our due diligence on all fronts in Opposition and will continue to do so."