UBP Party candidate Jeff Sousa yesterday accused Alex Scott of being "asleep at the wheel' over the Southlands controversy.

He claimed the former Premier only spoke against the project after public concern hardened into political opposition.

"This was catch-up politics at its best," he said.

A specially formed Cabinet committee met on Monday as Premier Ewart Brown spoke for the first time about a possible land swap between Southlands and Morgan's Point.

The three-person Cabinet committee made of Deputy Premier, Paula Cox, and Minister Derrick Burgess, met with the developers of Southlands to discuss the swap of privately-owned Southlands land in exchange for an area of Government-owned Morgan's Point, a former US Military base in the mid-1990s heavily polluted with oil.

In a press release, Dr. Brown said: "We have begun serious discussions regarding a land swap between Southlands and an area of Morgan's Point. Both parties have agreed to a methodical approach and will keep the public informed at appropriate intervals".

The release also said there will be no further comment on this subject from the Cabinet office.

Mr. Sousa, a Parliamentary candidate in Mr. Scott's seat, claimed in a written statement that Mr. Scott remained silent about the issue until Dr. Brown gave the developers a Special Development Order (SDO).

"Only after the SDO, when public concerns hardened into a political opposition to the project, did my opponent in number 24, MP Alex Scott, come out against a project that he long ago should have seen as a threat to the local quality of life. This was catch-up politics at its best."

He continued: "Mr. Scott woke up only when he realised his silence on the issue, a silence that lasted for the better part of a year, and his support for the Jumeirah plan was going to cost him votes.

"In the big picture, it was simply another illustration of a government out of touch with the people. In Warwick, it was an example of an MP who has been asleep at the wheel."

Mr. Sousa also said Mr. Scott did not speak up when the developers first talked about using the open space or when the Dubai-spired hotel plan came up. He said the former Premier remained tip-lipped when Jumeirah said they would build the hotel on the foreshore and put South Shore into a tunnel.

"I see Mr. Scott's emergence on the issue as an 11th hour conversation to save his political career," he said.

Mr. Sousa said he welcomed the possible land swap in order to preserve Southlands as a national park but urged Warwick residents to be vigilant and even skeptical as there are pollution isses at Morgan's Point.