The door has firmly been slammed in the face of investors hopeful of a reprieve on the Morgan's Harbour project.

Development and Opportunity Minister Terry Lister last night broke his four-month silence over the scheme -- and finally put an end to any hopes Morgan's Harbour Investment Limited. had of reviving their plan.

Negotiations were broken off with the group in August, but they were keen to make their case again to Cabinet after hearing that local consortium BEAM Ltd.

had been given a "window'' to come up with a proposal.

But Mr. Lister said there would be no second chance for MHIL, who had a $300 million tourism and leisure plan for the site.

"They are finished,'' he told The Royal Gazette . "Their time is over. They had their day.'' He said Government was working with BEAM, which he said had been given a "short, exclusive period'' to look at the project and resolve whether or not it could do it.

At present, he said, BEAM is going through a process to verify the availability of capital.

But the Minister said he did not want to set a date for the discussions or whether the scheme would be thrown open again to other bidders if the BEAM plan did not come through.

Two weeks ago, MHIL pleaded with the Government to allow them to make a presentation to Cabinet about their plans for the site.

MHIL were the original winners for the bid and said they were still committed to completing the leisure, housing and tourism site.

Their plea came after the 90-day exclusivity period with BEAM was understood to have elapsed at the beginning of November.

Mr. Lister said the group should have had a reply by now telling them that their chance had gone.

MHIL first asked for an audience in August and again at the end of November.

They reportedly believed other investors may not have realised how complex the project was, especially since there was the unresolved issue of the clean-up of waste left on the land.

In fact, MHIL had spent $3.5 million on preparation work for a plan that would have seen golf, homes of many different price ranges, a marina and a village with shops.

When negotiations were broken off by the Government in August, Mr. Lister said they had failed to come to the table to sign an agreement and wanted to move the project along to ensure it did not remain in limbo.

Terry Lister: No deal