Embattled Works and Engineering Minister Alex Scott last night hit back at the report by Auditor General Larry Dennis and said much of it was nothing more than "pure speculation".

In an interview with The Royal Gazette, Mr. Scott accused the auditor of acting outside of his remit and said a review of the extent of his role was needed.

"To place limits on the role of Government as catalogued in his `opinion' is disturbing and begs the question as to whether this Minister is being held to the same level of accountability and or standard as those who held this position in prior administration."

The Minister said the report had stated good things about the Berkeley site and said at nowhere did it say financial wrong-doing was a concern.

Mr. Scott said he had always claimed that every monetary control was enforced for Berkeley and Mr. Dennis' report had stated that the site was not over budget.

"The completion date for Berkeley is still September, 2003. I think they are two months behind, at least," said Mr. Scott.

"The official deadline has not changed. That has not happened yet, and for me to speculate is no better than the auditor speculating.

"This (report) is the auditor speculating. He does not have a crystal ball. I criticise the auditor because I think he's expanding the bounds.

"This is the sort of thing he does and one has to caution him and caution the reader. While he certainly has responsibility to talk about finances...I think he does go far afield and he does not do it in a balanced way."

Mr. Scott said he had always maintained that Pro-Active was given the Berkeley job because it was a Bermudian company, with a policy of hiring as many Bermudians as possible, but more importantly, because its bid and price for the job matched that of Government's.

"They were the most responsive", he said.

The Minister said he was surprised that Mr. Dennis' report did not mention that fact, and also criticised the auditor for failing to include in his report that the Ministry's favoured bidder, BermudaTech, had gone into liquidation earlier this year.

He said when BermudaTech folded in January, it left the Ministry with the remaining redevelopment of Spice Valley Middle School, which it had been working on for a number of years.

Mr. Scott said if the company had folded while building Berkeley, it would have created a major headache and financial strain for Government.

And he said even if BermudaTech had been granted Berkeley, it would probably still have gone under.

"BermudaTech's bid was low for Berkeley because they wanted the business badly because they knew they were in difficulty," said Mr. Scott.

"BermudaTech was a low bid, so we had to be just as suspect of that as we would have been over a very high bid."

On the issue of the performance bond, Mr. Scott said all that was important was that a bond was in place, and he said the same could not be said of the Westgate prison development, which went half way through without a surety.

But Mr. Scott said it was not unusual for Cabinet to award a project before a bond was in place and said the Attorney General's Chambers had looked at the matter and advised there was nothing untoward.

And when asked about why the bond was signed off before Union Asset Holdings was even incorporated, he said: "We are just talking about days. The bond was in place. The individual signing that bond committed themselves. It was a bona fide individual setting up a company.

"We are satisfied. It would be extraordinary for me to question the bona fide of the Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU), which is an institution. They hold a major share of the shares."

But when asked if Government helped to set up, facilitate or provide the performance bond for Pro-Active, Mr. Scott was adamant.

He said: "Categorically, no. I did not know who that bondsman was going to be before it was put in front of me.

"There is no exception to that. Government did not have anything to do with it."

Mr. Scott, responding to the concerns over payments made to Pro-Active, again reiterated his point that all financial aspects of the project had been administered within the usual boundaries.

He said: "We have kept exactly within the management protocol and controls in place. The auditor gives us credit as to how we have managed the project to date.

"Pro-Active have not been paid for any work that has not been done. There have not been any such concession payments.

"We try to assist any contractor in any way possible. We don't want to put people in difficulty."

Mr. Scott said the Ministry had given loans to Pro-Active to see it through cash-strapped times, but said the loans were being charged with a nine percent interest, and said, again, that was not unusual.

"What we did was within acceptable boundaries," said Mr. Scott. "They are not getting any extra concessions."

However, when it came to the progress of work on the site, Mr. Scott said he had to agree with the auditor.

The Minister said his Ministry did have some concerns that the work was not progressing at the rate he would like.

And he agreed that he would like Pro-Active to work more overtime, although the general contractor was saying it was not possible at this time.

He said he hopes to obtain an occupancy certificate next year to enable students to move on to the site in September, even though some aspects of the project may not be finished until much later.

"We are working to come up with circumstances that will enable us to increase the rate of what is taking place now. If overtime was a solution, we would be going for it. We certainly wish to increase the rate."

However, he said Pro-Active had indicated that those that were working in areas where overtime would benefit, were doing so.

But he said Government could not force Pro-Active to work more overtime.

The Royal Gazette has been told that the Berkeley project has caused much stress among some members of the Works and Engineering Ministry, particularly those who have close dealing with the site, who fear they will be made the fall guys.

Other workers, the newspaper was told, stay deliberately as far away as possible from the project. And seven months ago, the quantity surveyor for the project resigned.

But Mr. Scott said there had not been a mass exodus of senior staff from the Ministry, as rumoured, and said the stress was normal for a project of this size.

He said: "The stress level (for workers) - I must admit it's a big project - might be just as much as it is for the Minister. They (staff) are committed to seeing this project through successfully."

And when asked whether the staff were frustrated over the progress of the site, he said: "I think frustrated may be a strong word because the staff we have are professional. They are used to deadlines coming and deadlines going.

"I am sure there are challenges and I am sure they have times of frustration, but whether they share the same sentiments of the auditor, I am sure they don't."