The corporations of Hamilton and St. George’s are to be abolished, it was revealed this afternoon.

Hamilton Mayor Sutherland Madeiros told a press conference at City Hall that both municipalities were “absolutely” against the plan to get rid of them.

He said the first they knew of Government’s decision was when they received a letter dated June 19 from Cabinet Secretary Marc Telemaque, advising them that an outside contractor would be sought to assist in the reform of the municipalities.

An attached request for proposal states: “In its Throne Speech of 2008, the Government of Bermuda undertook to reform Bermuda’s municipalities; in considering the best means to do so, Cabinet determined that the most practical, efficient and effective reform would be to repeal the Municipalities Act 1923 and transition the operations of the municipalities into the relevant government departments.”

Mr. Madeiros said the corporations were seeking legal advice to try to fight the change. “We believe that the corporations run effectively and efficiently and so therefore we do not know of any reason for this.”

See tomorrow’s edition of The Royal Gazette for the full story.