Materials taken to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival during the summer were sold, charged Opposition MP Cole Simons during debate on budget overruns related to Bermuda's participation in the festival.

Terry Lister, the Cabinet minister responsible for cultural affairs at the time, said he had no knowledge that materials were sold.

"Some of the infrastructure was sold in Washington," Mr. Simons said. "Did it (the money) come back to Bermuda and when will we see it in the Consolidated Fund? And how much was it ?"

Mr. Lister told the House that to his knowledge nothing was sold. He said that some materials were left in Washington D.C. at the end of the festival because it would have been too expensive to ship them back to Bermuda.

"Nothing was sold in Washington," he said. "There's no money to come back."

But Mr. Lister couldn't say how the items were disposed of.

Mr. Simons then said he had spoken to the buyers of the materials. He also questioned whether Bermuda's participation did more to boost US tourism than bring any benefits to the Island.

Government MPs argued that it had finally put to rest any doubt that there was such a thing as Bermudian culture and the fact that a million people had had the opportunity to attend the exhibits would likely translate into more tourists coming to Bermuda.

Parliamentarians were debating whether to approve overspending of over $500,000.

The lion's share - $313,500 - was accounted for by the Ministry of Community and Cultural Affairs in connection with Bermuda's participation in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and plans to restage it here.

Community Affairs Minister, Randy Horton, explained to his colleagues that over 200 members of the community were flown to Washington for the ten day event which started at the end of June. He stressed that the overspend had no impact on Government's overall budget because it had been met by reallocating funds from other government departments and as such no new money was being requested.

He explained that the funds spent included over $100,000 in advertising and marketing the event and keeping the local population informed on a day-to-day basis.

In addition, at a cost of $35,000, eight teachers were trained at the Smithsonian so they could develop an educational kit for the Island's schools. And a Smithsonian liaison officer was hired on a part-time basis at cost of $11,000.

Mr. Horton also revealed fundraiser Geneva Humdy-Woodley received close to $56,000 as a 10 percent commission on funds raised.

Questions were raised by Opposition members who said that a significant amount of money was raised through corporate sponsorship and a full accounting had not been given.

Mr. Lister said that a fuller accounting will be given when the Smithsonian submitted their accounting.

He also said that 180 hours of video was shot and a "collectors' item" video will soon be up for sale.

The departments of Planning, Agriculture and Fisheries, Community Affairs, Small Business Development, Human Affairs and Land Valuation, all contributed funds from their budgets to meet the overspend, he revealed.

Opposition Leader Grant Gibbons accused Government of breaking a promise not to bring supplementary estimates to the House after the money had been spent.

Finance Minister, Eugene Cox, disagreed the promise applied in this case because of the "technical" nature of the overspend.