The United Bermuda Party (UBP) has responded to claims that its concern over the progress of the new secondary school is based solely on politics and point-scoring.

Shadow Works and Engineering Minister Erwin Adderley hit back at a statement by his opponent Alex Scott in Parliament on Friday which criticised the Opposition for constantly raising concerns about the new Berkeley Institute site, while remaining silent about the bankruptcy of BermudaTech Construction.

Mr. Scott said BermudaTech was in the middle of completing the refurbishment of Spice Valley Middle School when it went bust earlier this year, leaving Government to pick up the pieces - yet no questions had been asked.

And he accused the Opposition of basing their concerns over Berkeley on the shade of the general contractors' politics.

But Mr. Adderley said nothing could be further from the truth.

He said: "He is simply to trying to divert attention from what we consider to be a real serious problem and he has not answered any of the questions that we have put forward to him with regards to Berkeley.

"Questions are being raised and it seems to me that he is more concerned with covering up Berkeley than answering the questions.

"Bankruptcies in the construction business are unfortunately not unusual. There are good-sized construction companies that go in and out of business over a period of time.

"The issue is not about a company going belly up. There were no untoward issues, as a result of that.

"The concern is about the progress of the Berkeley site. We are talking about tax-payers' money."

"Our concerns have nothing to do with party politics or the colour of people's skin. This is about accountability."

The Opposition has claimed the $70 million project, which is being undertaken by general contractor Pro-Active Management Systems Ltd, is running months behind schedule and millions over budget.

Both Mr. Scott and Pro-Active president Arthur Ebbin have denied the claims.

And Mr. Scott has claimed a UBP-approved candidate has deliberately tried to trick one of his officers into handing over documents pertaining to Berkeley by using scare tactics.

Mr. Scott has said a formal complaint to the Police will be made.

Mr. Adderley said the Opposition's concern has always been that Government did not give the contract to the lowest approved bidder, BermudaTech, and instead gave it to little-known Pro-Active, which put in a bid $5 million higher.

He said: "Mr. Scott said we had publicly supported BermudaTech, and that is why we never mentioned the fact they had gone bankrupt. We simply supported the contractor with the lowest bid.

"This has nothing to do with politics, or the shade of people's politics or skin. This is about the public's money and how it is being spent. We have a right to be concerned."