Shadow Finance Minister Bob Richards last night poured scorn on Premier Paula Cox’s claim that she will slash tens of millions of dollars from this year’s Budget by reducing capital spending.Finance Minister Ms Cox said in her Budget statement her promised cut of $150 million in total Government spending would be achieved in part with a $60 million reduction in capital expenditure.But Mr Richards said: “Say you are thinking about buying a car and one car costs $50,000 and the other costs $30,000 and you decide to buy the car that costs $30,000.“What [the Premier] is saying is that you have saved $20,000. You haven’t really. What you have done is spend $30,000.“You have a choice: you can buy the Mercedes or you can buy the Toyota. If you buy the Toyota, you aren’t saving money.“That’s why this stuff on saving money on capital expenditure is smoke and mirrors. It’s not a real saving. The only saving is the $90 million [in current account spending].”Government budgeted $144 million for capital investment for 2010/11, compared to $84 million for the coming year.The $84 million breaks down into $55.4 million for capital development and $21.6 million for capital acquisitions, plus $7 million of unspent funds carried over.Peter Everson, from the Chamber of Commerce, noted yesterday that the revised spending estimate on capital expenditure for this year is $128 million, equating to a “saving” of $43 million, rather than $60 million.Ms Cox told a press conference some capital projects were being “deferred or stretched out over a period of time” to reduce spending in 2011/12.Some major projects will be completed before this financial year ends on March 31, including the police and court building in Hamilton, which accounted for almost $34 million of this year’s capital development allocation.And King Edward VII Memorial Hospital’s capital grant this year of $10 million has been slashed to zero for 2011/12 because a new hospital is being built as part of a public private partnership.The new facility is expected to cost about $260 million but Bermuda Hospitals Board won’t have to begin paying for it until construction is complete in 2014.Capital spending on improvements to the public golf courses for the coming year has also been cut to zero.Spending on the improvements up until the end of 2010, including the renovation of Port Royal Golf Course, reached almost $20 million.The costliest capital developments in the coming year will be the $27 million expansion and maintenance of Tynes Bay Waste Treatment Facility and the $5.5 million refurbishment of Lefroy House, a rest home for seniors.Ms Cox told MPs in the House yesterday: “We are allocating $12 million to a variety of small projects, including building upgrades, school maintenance and roadside works, in order to provide stimulus for small contractors and to create jobs.”She added that Government would invest $3 million for the completion of the long-awaited X-ray scanner equipment at Hamilton docks, which will enable customs officers to examine each container arriving here without having to search them by hand.Deputy Premier and Public Works Minister Derrick Burgess told The Royal Gazette he didn’t know when the scanner would be working, adding: “We are trying to get it up as quickly as possible.”Some of the smaller projects planned for 2011/12 include:l $1.1 million on a substance abuse treatment centre at the Co-ed facility;l $1 million on refurbishing the Causeway;l $1 million on maintenance of the Department of Park’s yard facility;l $920,000 on refurbishing the Aquarium;l $750,000 on works at CedarBridge Academy;l a $500,000 refurbishment of Parliament;l and $300,000 on Prospect police headquarters;Mr Everson warned the lack of major capital projects would do little to help a struggling construction industry.“There is nothing in there for the construction industry,” he said of the Budget. “It’s a glaring omission. Government is planning to reduce its capital projects. Obviously, the hospital is going to create some jobs but realistically it means there are very little major new projects for another 18 months or two years.”Charles Dunstan, vice president of the Construction Association of Bermuda, said construction firms could do nothing to stimulate their industry but had to rely on a “trickle down” effect from improvements in other sectors.Mr Dunstan said he hoped the forthcoming Budget debate in Parliament would shed more light on capital development plans and how local firms might benefit.“While the decrease in payroll tax is a positive move to assist businesses with controlling costs, the construction industry relies on development to stimulate growth.“Development relies on incentives for property owners to develop, but the Budget doesn’t indicate Government’s current thinking in this area. We await with interest any further information from the upcoming debate.”Shadow Public Works Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin said she’d reserve comment on capital spending until after the Opposition’s Reply to the Budget on Friday. Sylvan Richards, Bermuda Democratic Alliance’s spokesman on Public Works, said he hadn’t yet had a chance to read the Budget so couldn’t comment.