Premier Ewart Brown told MPs last night that members of the original Sustainable Development Round Table were kicked off the independent board because they publicly disagreed with Government.

Dr. Brown, responding to criticism from the Opposition about his failure to reappoint certain outspoken members including environmentalist Stuart Hayward, said it had been hinted that such members lost their positions because they disagreed with Government.

"That's not true," he said. "It's because of how they expressed their disagreement with the Government — that's in the media. Our policy is that if you disagree with us, you express your disagreement where we appointed you."

Earlier, MPs heard that $479,000 is allocated in this year's Budget for implementing the Sustainable Development Plan released when Alex Scott was Premier. Dr. Brown said this year would see a "public relations campaign like none seen before" to generate interest in the plan, which is aimed at safeguarding the Island's resources for future generations.

He asked MPs to come up with a less abstract term than "sustainable development" to capture the public's attention.

Opposition Leader Kim Swan said people in Bermuda now knew what the term meant but what hadn't happened was any action on putting the measures in the plan in place. He noted that nothing was spent in the previous two years on sustainable development, according to the Budget.

"There was a time when sustainable development was put on the map. Alex Scott brought forward sustainable development in a very real way," he said, adding that this Government had failed to carry through its commitment to the idea. "Actions speak louder than words," said Mr. Swan.

He criticised Government for its use of Special Development Orders (SDOs) to fast-track planning applications for certain developments through the planning process.

"One of the aspects of sustainable development is the diminishing open spaces of Bermuda," said the Shadow Tourism Minister. "One of the threats has been SDOs."

Tourism Minister Dr. Brown said the controversial Southlands development got an SDO on the basis that the buyers were purchasing private property which was zoned for tourism.

He explained that SDOs were aimed at expediting the planning process, but never bypassing it, and that such orders meant a number of new hotels were in the pipeline for the Island. To an interjection from the other side that none of the hotels had yet come to fruition, he replied: "Time will tell."

The Premier added it was good that SDOs for the hotels were "got through" before the economic downturn in the US. "Had we not expedited these things they would be in even greater jeopardy. Had they not had SDOs by now I can tell you we probably would have had two or three letters of termination."