In a formal statement in the House of Assembly yesterday Shadow Tourism Minister David Dodwell denied once again claims by Tourism Minister David Allen that his hotel, The Reefs, would have gone bust without the Hotel Concessions Act.

He said he wanted to "set the record straight" in connection with comments made by Tourism Minister David Allen in the House of Assembly last week.

Referring to the Hotel Concessions Act which gives tax relief to Mr. Allen had told his House colleagues of a telephone conversation with Mr. Dodwell and said "the strong indication was that the Member was going to go bust or be foreclosed on if he did not get those concessions."

"He further indicated that I had said that if the legislation (meaning The Reefs Concession Order) did not get tabled before the summer recess, I would not be able to face the people financing that project."

Mr. Dodwell described the comments as a "complete misrepresentation of the facts and totally untrue".

"The Reefs is not going `bust' and it is not on the verge of closing. In fact quite to the contrary, the hotel is financially solvent, has had a long period of successful operation, has won many awards here and abroad, and all indications are that it will continue to rate as one of the most successful hotels here in Bermuda."

He went on to denounce Mr. Allen's statements as "reckless, irresponsible and inaccurate remarks" which had caused uncertainty and concern among the stakeholders of the business.

He confirmed that he did call Mr. Allen to enquire when the Reefs Concession Order would go to Parliament.

"During the brief conversation I simply informed him I was meeting with my bankers that week and that they might enquire as to the status of the Order. Thus the comments made by the Honourable Member bear absolutely no resemblance to the comments actually made during our telephone conversation."

He said the Reefs was not dependent on the Concession Order to finance or develop projects. "In fact the bulk of the work had already been designed, financed and completed three months before my telephone conversation with the Minister."

Mr. Dodwell continued : "Mr. Speaker, I am not going to comment on this occasion which you have provided me, on what rules, procedures, or professional ethics the honourable member has breached in not only disclosing our private telephone conversation, but in putting forward a completely false and misleading account of what was said.

"My goal at this time is simply to set the record straight and protect the integrity of The Reefs and all of the people associated with the hotel, as a result of the disservice that was done to them last week."

He said he would continue to discharge his responsibilities as Shadow Tourism Minister. "Bermuda deserves, from all of its Members of Parliament, individuals who will not be deterred by any unwarranted, unjustified and unsubstantiated personal attacks."

Mr. Allen was not in the House when Mr. Dodwell made his statement and could not be contacted by The Royal Gazette by press time last night.

Premier Jennifer Smith has already gone on the record to defend the Tourism Minister. "There was nothing wrong with the Minister's comments," she told The Royal Gazette this week.

Ms Smith said that the she believed that the Mr. Dodwell contacted the Minister more than once on the same matter.

"If you were not concerned or interested you would not have persisted," she said. "Minister Allen spoke of his impression which was based on the Shadow Minister's actions at the time and that is perfectly correct. He did it within the context of the Shadow Minister saying `no that Act has not benefited anyone.' Am I going to discipline a Minister for something that has been distorted and attributed to him - no ?"