The Opposition United Bermuda Party (UBP) last night claimed the Auditor General's report had vindicated its claims about the slow progress of the new Berkeley site - and its concerns over the performance bond.

Shadow Works and Engineering Minister Erwin Adderley said he was not surprised by issues raised in the audit on the new secondary school but they had only confirmed his fears.

"All is not well with this matter, and I think Minister Alex Scott has been acting like an ostrich with his head in the sand," said Mr. Adderley.

"He has only said that the school could be two months late, maybe three months, or possibly a little longer. "The Minister is saying all of this (audit) is pure speculation, but he needs to put a contingency plan in place should we find that that speculation is true.

"I think we have sufficient evidence now to warrant some answers as to what students will do next September when they should be attending the new school. Students, parents and the Berkeley board deserve to be told."

Mr. Adderley questioned why there had been so much secrecy around the performance bond, and suggested that it was because it had been put in place in such an unusual manner.

He said: "The performance bond was issued before the company that issued it was incorporated. Government was well aware of that. It's sloppy, if not fraudulent.

"Government basically accepted a performance bond that was not worth the paper it was written on and Cabinet was well aware of the circumstances."

But Mr. Adderley also questioned why Government had advanced the $700,000 reimbursement for the bond payment to Pro-Active without any proof that the money had been paid in the first place.

He said: "Pro-Active did not have the money and Government advanced them the money - that again is very unusual.

"Government paid out the money without first seeing if Pro-Active had paid it out. I can't imagine what they were thinking. This can only lead me to conclude that Pro-Active did not pay it and instead Government paid for it.

"Further questions have to be asked as to whether or not Government is adequately protected. It may be that the $70 million for construction is not protected. Also, does the security union have the resources to meet claims of up to $6.8 million."

But Mr. Adderley said it was clear to him that the school was not going to be finished sufficiently for it to be open on time next September, and said the public should now be told the truth by the Minister.

"I think the people of Bermuda have to understand and know how cavalier their money is being handled and Government has freely admitted they have handled it this way.

"I'm saying that by Government's own admission, they are not doing due diligence to making sure the public's money is being spent wisely, and there are not adequate protections in place to safeguard it. A prudent Government should not be in that position.

"The auditor vindicates the concerns we have raised regarding the overruns, delays and performance bond."