Union made a $40,000 cash loan to discredited World Conference of Mayors promoter Bonnie Marshall.

And he assured union members that the cash would end up back in the union coffers.

At a press conference held at BIU headquarters, World Conference of Mayors director general Johnny Ford, flanked by Mr. Burgess and BIU second-in command Chris Furbert, made the announcement that the BIU had given cash to Ms Marshall's company, the Afro American Global Trade and Tourism Council.

"I want to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation to Derrick Burgess and all the members of the union,'' Mr. Ford said.

"We appreciate it that Derrick Burgess had the foresight to provide resources in the form of a loan to Bonnie Marshall to assist in this conference. Your investment will not be lost.

"As director general of the World Conference of Mayors I will make sure that the BIU gets its money back, if not from Bonnie Marshall then from other sources.'' Mr. Burgess, who said the loan was given in March, added: "I do not want to get into the business policies of the union but the suggestion has been made that this loan was provided without the knowledge of the membership. This is not true. Like any other business decision, this matter was dealt with at board level and reported to the general council.

"You have heard Mayor Ford give assurances that the loan will be repaid. My question is, when this loan is paid will it appear on the front pages or the headlines? "Had this loan not been made this conference would not be taking place in Bermuda. The organisers needed to get what they call seed money in order to start the promotion and although they had an agreement with the Government they couldn't get that money right away. That's not a criticism of the Government, it's just that it takes time.'' But Tourism Minister David Dodwell rejected Mr. Burgess' claims that the BIU played a key role in keeping the conference on the Island.

He dismissed the idea Ms Marshall needed "seed money'' to kick start the promotional campaign, highlighting the fact that Ms Marshall claimed to have already received hundreds of thousands of dollars from other major sponsors, including American Airlines, before her dispute with the Department of Tourism.

"That is complete nonsense,'' Mr. Dodwell said. "In fact the union approached the Ministry of Tourism desperate to have our involvement in order to shore up their own commitment.''