Opposition Leader Wayne Furbert last night called on the Government to abandon its plan to build a new $500 million hospital in the middle of the Botanical Gardens.

Mr. Furbert claimed that the depth of opposition displayed at three public meetings held last week by Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) and other negative public reaction meant the new facility should be built on the existing King Edward VII Memorial Hospital site.

He told : ?Premier Scott should be prepared to live up to his statement that his Government would reverse the decision if the people strongly oppose the park plan.

?It is clear to us that the public does not want to see the Botanical Gardens destroyed, especially when there is plenty of acreage around the existing hospital for new construction.

?My colleagues and I are not convinced by the information that we have gathered on the Botanical Gardens decision and we are particularly struck by findings that call into question the arguments used to support it.?

The new hospital would take up ten acres of the Botanical Gardens ? but Mr. Furbert said there were 17 acres available at the KEMH site.

He added: ?Engineering sources have said unequivocally that on-site construction is feasible and doable. Overseas hospital sources say that patient care can be protected during on-site construction.

?We also note that the hospital?s own consultants have said that 80 percent of hospital construction is done on site.?

He said that the cost of a rebuild on the current site needed to be looked at with ?greater precision and sharper pens?.

?We believe that the board, with its consultants, can come up with an on-site plan that provides people with first-class health care and that the Island can afford.

?We see the hospital decision as a watershed for sustainable development. Building a new hospital on open space will set a dangerous precedent. Building on the existing site will signal that we as a people are serious about finding a new, more promising path to the future.

?We believe that if the Government decides to build the new hospital on the existing site that they will get the full support of the people of Bermuda and we in the United Bermuda Party will join hands with them to make it happen.?