Works and Engineering Minister Derrick Burgess has quashed rumours a contract has been awarded for the clean-up of Morgan's Point.

Companies meeting the criteria to submit a tender are due to visit the former US Naval Air Station next week, with bid applications due in by September 18.

As reported in yesterday's The Royal Gazette, chairman of the Bermuda Environmental and Sustainability Taskforce (BEST) Stuart Hayward is calling for more transparency over Southlands and Morgan's Point.

Mr. Hayward said it had been 16 months since the land transfer between the two properties but that the land swap had yet to be completed by Government.

He said he had also heard a rumour that Correia Construction had been awarded an $80 million contract for the environmental clean-up of Morgan's Point.

This rumour was also reported by VSB News on Monday.

On Tuesday Dennis Correia of Correia Construction denied this was the case, telling this newspaper: "Correia will be bidding on the job as part of a Bermuda consortium. Tenders came out last week and the bids are due on September 17."

Yesterday Government also responded, with a statement from Minister Mr. Burgess.

He said: "I am most concerned about rumours circulating in the community to the effect that a contract with respect to the environmental remediation of the former US Naval Base at Morgan's Point has already been awarded.

"Let me set the record straight. A contract has not been awarded.

"A number of Bermudian and international companies prequalified to tender for the project, and have now been invited to submit tenders for the work.

"Tenderers will be visiting the site next week as part of their tendering preparation and to meet with representatives of the Ministry of Works and Engineering. Completed tenders are due to be submitted to the Ministry by Friday, September 18, at which time the selection process will continue."

The Minister then accused Mr. Hayward of being "part of this altogether regrettable and reprehensible rumour-mongering process".

He said: "If Mr. Hayward had any genuine concern about the Morgan's Point tendering process, surely he would have raised the questions with those who have the answer, that is, with the Minister of Works and Engineering or the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works and Engineering. He has not done so.

"Instead, he has irresponsibly suggested that the contract has already been awarded, a suggestion that has already led to one bidder contacting the Ministry to question the integrity of the bidding process.

"The comments attributed to Mr. Hayward in this morning's edition of The Royal Gazette and elsewhere in the broadcast media are at best ill-advised, mischievous, misleading, counterproductive and potentially damaging to a critically important initiative, one that is designed to reap huge benefits for all Bermudians in the long run.

"Mr. Hayward, a former Member of Parliament, should be thoroughly ashamed of himself."

Mr. Burgess said: "The Ministry takes great care to ensure that its tender process is fair and impartial, and wishes to express its concern that the spreading of such rumours could undermine the confidence of potential bidders in our tender process, ultimately resulting in increased costs to the people of Bermuda.

"The Ministry wishes to reassure all companies who are tendering, either individually or with other companies, that the integrity of the tendering process is, and will remain, intact and that they should have no concerns related to these unfounded rumours."

In yesterday's The Royal Gazette we stated that: "Mr. Hayward said there was also a rumour circulating that Correia Construction had been awarded an $80 million contract for the environmental clean-up of Morgan's Point.

"'Without any public notice of a tendering process, people are in the dark,' said Mr. Hayward."

Last night Mr. Hayward responded to Mr. Burgess's claims, saying: "The Morgan's Point/Southlands swap was first announced in April 2008, almost a year-and-a-half ago. Since then, the only reports on progress made public have been as a result of prodding on behalf of the public by organisations like BEST or through Parliamentary Questions.

"No matter how much the Minister lets off steam, the reality is that a number of Government contracts have been awarded without a transparent tendering process, in some cases with the public only finding out after the contract has been awarded. The Minister cannot therefore justifiably be upset when the public or bidders raise questions about the bidding process.

"Who can deny that the information contained in the Minister's statement pertaining to the clean-up is of interest and of importance to virtually every member of the Bermuda community. Had this information been released as part of the bidding process, there would have been no fertile ground for rumours to sprout.

"It is unfortunate that this information has had to wait until the Government was prodded into damage control manoeuvres, including personal attacks.

"If the Minister and the Government as a whole wish to avoid rumours, then the most effective process is through a deliberate and unmistakable openness about the conduct of the public's affairs particularly when it involves a contract for tens of millions of dollars.

"Surely the tendering of such a major project need not be conducted in secrecy. The Minister always has the opportunity to put the Bermuda public 'in the know'. The only way that rumours can flourish is when factual information is not forthcoming.

"In any case, while the Minister may take comfort in using an offensive attack as his defense, the display of shooting at the messenger with an adverbial barrage has no bearing on the message.

"Personal attacks, as the Minister has engaged in, do not assist the public in gaining information which should be coming from the Government pro-actively. Indeed, the virulence of the attack says more about the Government finding itself on the back foot and waxing defensively about the indefensible.

"In the interest of avoiding rumours, we would invite the Minister and the Government to inform the public about the status of the land swap of the Southlands estate for land at Morgan's Point."

This newspaper has repeatedly asked Government for an update on Southlands and whether it is to become a national park.

The Royal Gazette has also been asking for an update on the status of the environmental clean-up process at Morgan's Point since April.