How long does it take for the Government to admit it made a mistake?

Cynics would say a year and $101 million isn?t enough, based on Government?s continued defence of its management of the new Berkeley Institute.

Having ignored his own technical officers? advice on the selection of a contractor, the Berkeley project is now $13 million over budget and at least a year behind schedule.

In addition to that, Auditor General Larry Dennis has had no more success in the last 12 months of finding whether the Bermuda Industrial Union paid a performance bond on the company?s behalf. The public has the right to know whether the money was paid and so do the members of the BIU.

One of the problems in finding out whether the money was paid is the fact that the union has not filed its accounts in more than five years. This puts the union in breach of the Act which enables it to exist, but the Government has failed to take any action against it.

That should come as no surprise. Then-Works Minister and current Premier Alex Scott?s continual insistence that the Berkeley project was on time and on budget when it was clear to anyone who had walked by a construction project that it was hopelessly behind schedule will go down in Bermuda political history as the biggest political whopper.

So expecting the PLP to actually have its labour wing obey the law when the Government has already shown itself incapable of telling the truth and has resisted all efforts to get to the bottom of the performance bond issue would be na?ve.

Mr. Scott claimed on Friday that people were mesmerised by the scale of the Berkeley project.

This is nonsense. The only mesmerising thing about the Berkeley project was the series of fantasies that emanated from the mouth of Mr. Scott and latterly from the unfortunate Ashfield DeVent, who had the misfortune to succeed him.

The Berkeley project is a large and complex project, but it is by no means unprecedented in either scale or complexity. CedarBridge was the same size, while the technical demands of projects like the Tynes Bay Incinerator and even Westgate far exceed the school.

Yet none have been so late and so over-Budget as Berkeley. The problems began with the selection of the contractor and then a total lack of oversight when it became clear early on that it was in trouble.

It is worth remembering that the overrun on the project ? on Proactive Construction?s share of the project is now 20 percent. Of the company?s original bid and no reason was given on Friday to expect that the school will be finished by the new deadline or at the new Budget figure.

And yet the Government continues to insist that all is well. And if you believe that, then you should head up to Brooklyn right away ? apparently there?s a bridge for sale up there and it?s going cheap.