Premier Ewart Brown’s political campaigner Andre Curtis yesterday hit back at his critics by insisting he has lined up ten faith-based tourism events to justify being paid $400,000 of taxpayers’ money.

Mr. Curtis also launched an attack on former Opposition Leader Wayne Furbert, who has repeatedly questioned how the funds are being spent and suggested the initiative is the Premier’s way of getting cash to his campaigner as a thank you gesture.

At a press conference, Mr. Curtis finally broke his silence over the allegations by providing a list of ten scheduled events, between May 2007 and March 2008, to which he said a total of $200,000 had been allocated.

Of these, Mr. Curtis conceded two or three would have taken place anyway without his faith-based tourism project. He provided only brief details of the events, with one earmarked for March 20 to 25 described simply as “Conference”.

He did not specify exactly how the other half of the $400,000 was being spent, but he did produce a document stating that $200,000 was being spent on salaries for faith-based tourism during 2007-08.

He revealed his company Harvest Investment Holdings expected to receive a cheque from Government at the beginning of August but stressed he had to meet certain criteria to get the cash. Mr. Curtis, who runs the Premier’s constituency in Warwick South Central, has previously refused numerous requests for comments or information on the subject.

At the conference — which was littered with lengthy silences in front of a media instructed not to ask any questions — Mr. Curtis opened by stating: “This is a very, very sad and very, very difficult time for me. Let me first apologise to you, Bermuda, and also to the pastors of this country. I ask for your prayers for me and I ask for your prayers for the people who are spreading the venom against me.”

After providing a complicated explanation as to how the money was accounted for, Mr. Curtis turned his attention to the former Opposition Leader, stating: “So, Wayne Furbert, I ask you to please stop the spreading of this, I don’t know what to call it.

“Allow these events to go on. They are very difficult to put together. They take time and they take time to put together. And we could do without your unfair tax. Wayne Furbert and his cohorts have contacted my family to try to dig up something on me. I don’t understand the logic behind it. This has badly shaken my family and traumatised us. It’s very hurtful and very painful and unwarranted.

“I had a very close family member say that hurting people hurt people. I watched Wayne Furbert go through a couple of months ago, when the UBP sacked him, and he was crying on national TV, and my hurt belonged to the brother and I prayed for him.

“And I have already forgiven him for what he is doing to me or attempting to do to me today and also hurting the church.”

Mr. Curtis offered to repay $2 which he claimed Mr. Furbert had contributed to a collection at a multi-faith event at the National Sports Centre last year.

“Mr. Furbert said that . . . he felt like he was taken advantage of,” he said. “In watching the DVD of the event, during the collection time I watched Wayne Furbert put a crumpled up $2 bill in the offering plate.”

Clutching an envelope, he added: “I have here $2 and I will mail it to him because I do not wish him to feel taken advantage of as he indicated.”

Mr. Furbert told The Royal Gazette he puts more than $2 into collection plates and described Mr. Curtis as a joker. He said previously: “As far as I’m concerned, this whole thing is a thank you gesture to Curtis for helping out the Premier.”

After the press conference, Mr. Curtis rejected that suggestion, telling this newspaper: “This is hard work. If Ewart Brown wants to give me something, tell him not to give me hard work.”

Asked whether some of the ten events he listed would have taken place anyway regardless of the faith-based tourism initiative, he said: “I would say three out of the ten would have happened without faith-based tourism, but the rest no. I wouldn’t even say that, I would say two.”