Opposition Leader Grant Gibbons yesterday blasted Government for appointing a man whose business racked up close to $500,000 in unpaid taxes to be the new chairman of the Tourism Board.

The Ministry of Tourism announced on July 25 that Andre Curtis had succeeded Delaey Robinson as chairman of the board.

Mr. Curtis was a partner in First Choice Construction Ltd. which went into liquidation owing $229,000 to the Contributory Pension Fund, according to the 2003 Auditor General?s report, and $237,000 in payroll taxes, according to the 2000 Auditor General?s Report.

Dr. Gibbons said the appointment was at odds with Government?s declaration that it would be sensitive to pension issues and was increasing collection efforts.

?This is from the same Government that announced a more aggressive approach to collecting money owed from seriously delinquent employers and companies which have not paid the required contributions for their employees,? he said. ?It is a classic case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing.?

But Tourism Minister Ewart Brown defended the appointment.

?We are delighted to have this young man at the helm of the Tourism Board and we know that Bermuda will benefit from his strong work ethic and Christian principles,? he said.

?Our understanding is that Mr. Curtis was a partner in a business which, about ten years ago, owed the Government tax payments. That company was dissolved and is no longer in business.

?We also understand that Mr. Curtis is the general manager of Vision Construction Company, which is currently in good standing with the Government.?

And Dr. Brown said Mr. Curtis has wide-ranging experience in the hospitality industry having worked for more than ten years in local hotels and restaurants.

Yesterday, Auditor General Larry Dennis told that the arrears had not been cleared, however.

When contacted, Mr. Curtis would neither confirm nor deny the arrears owed by the company. While he would not name his other business partners in First Choice Construction, Mr. Curtis said the company had run into trouble before it went into liquidation in 1999.

A liquidated company may see its debt with Government written off, and in the case of a limited liability company, as this was, the principals would have no obligation for the debt.

First Choice is one of 20-odd companies which were listed in the 2003 report as being in the similar situation of having gone out of business while owing taxes to the Government.

In the 2004 report, Mr. Dennis opted not to name companies that were in arrears and in liquidation. But he said the companies in liquidation owed $4.5 million for payroll taxes and $2.5 million in pension contributions.

The Ministry of Finance and the Attorney General?s Chambers have recently adopted more stringent procedures to ensure that employers who collect pension contributions from their employees do not attempt to pocket the money.

Mr. Dennis has called for the Ministry of Finance to adopt more aggressive collection procedures for Contributory Pension Fund contributions, either through penalties levied or in extreme cases through the Criminal Code.

In his latest report, Mr. Dennis showed that Government and the Contributory Pension Fund are owed close to $15 million in unpaid contributions to the pension fund, with unpaid payroll taxes bringing the total to almost $39 million.

In Bermuda the average pension contribution for a full time worker is $50.68 per week. The $229,000 owed by First Choice Construction Limited would, therefore, represent more than 4,500 weeks or 86 years of work that former employees of the company will not get credit for when their pensions are calculated.

Dr. Gibbons said the appointment of a individual who did not display good corporate behaviour raised concerns.

?Government has announced there is a special unit within the DPP to collect from seriously delinquent employers who have not paid what is due to the fund ? this appointment makes that announcement look like nothing more than lip service since the Tourism Board is clearly a major board dealing with a significant sector of our economy involving thousands of employees within the hospitality industry.?

He called for more diligence by Government in allowing individuals to operate local companies and suggested that people who have fallen into arrears be made to wait for a set period before they can open new businesses.

Dr. Gibbons said: ?The seniors? study illustrates that a large number of senior citizens are entirely dependent on a Government pension and getting half of that really makes (a big) difference to seniors scraping by.

?Government has a moral and administrative responsibility to ensure that all employers are making the contributions. We have been waiting for some years to see a more aggressive approach.?

But Dr. Brown said past wrongs should not be held against people who wanted to give public service.

?A person involved in this should still be able to serve their community, even people who have been to prison have been able to serve their community,? he said.