A story in last Saturday's newspaper incorrectly quoted a Japanese backer of the Ritz-Carlton hotel project saying financing would be provided on a recourse basis. Mr. Junichi Kitada said banks were willing to finance the project on a "non-recourse'' basis, meaning the property is collateral for loans with future hotel revenues the source of repayment.

The proposed Bermuda Ritz-Carlton Hotel project remains in limbo without any indications of a go-ahead.

That was the message conveyed this week by two of three partners behind the $200 million South Shore hotel plan.

But Mr. Frank Bryant of Related-Crismark development company and Mr. Junichi Kitada of the Japanese construction giant Shimizu Corporation said they remained solidly behind the project.

"There has been no reconsideration,'' Mr. Bryant said in a telephone interview from New York.

"We haven't quit. We haven't lost interest. But I can't say when it will happen. The financing is basically all together. It's just a matter of getting the green light on it.'' The bottom fell out of the Ritz-Carlton project in November when Japan's DK Bank, the largest in the world, decided to withdraw funding for the $200 million South Shore project.

The move was part of an overall retrenchment by Japanese overseas investors sending their money back home to refinance recession-hit operations and to take advantage of local investment opportunities.

Mr. Kitada said the search for a lender to the project was increasingly difficult because of the prolonged recession and a crisis of confidence among banks.

"The market is deteriorating day by day,'' he said. "There are very few banks if at all who willing to provide project financing on a recourse basis.

At this moment, we are lenders for the land purchase (in Warwick). Our intent is to be partners when the project kicks off.'' Mr. Bryant, who began working on the Bermuda plan in 1989, said his company was committed to the project because it remained a business opportunity and because Related-Crismark had already invested nearly $30 million on it.

"We have $21 million down there,'' he said. "Make that closer to $30 million. Much of that went to acquiring the land. We spent an absolute fortune on architectural fees.

"So this isn't the kind of thing you shrug your shoulders about and say `What the heck'.'' The developer said there remained a need for a new hotel in Bermuda.

"The feasibility is still excellent. That's one thing we don't have to fight.'' Mr. Bryant considered the Japanese pull-back temporary.