The two quangos which manage the West End and the former Baselands are likely to merge, according to the chairman of both bodies.

Walter Lister told The Royal Gazette that the West End Development Corporation (Wedco) and Bermuda Land Development Corporation (BLDC) would probably become a single entity, as recommended by experts earlier this decade.

"I support the idea of the two coming together," he said, during an interview at Dockyard. "It would avoid duplication in a number of areas. We have a maintenance department here and a maintenance department there.

"We have a ground crew here and a ground crew there. That's just a couple of examples; there are many more."

Mr. Lister added: "I probably wouldn't be talking out of school if I said it appears to me that the present (Works and Engineering) Minister is looking in that direction."

Wedco was established in 1982 to manage and development more than 214 acres of land belonging to Government, including Watford Island, Boaz Island and Ireland Islands North and South and comprising 1.6 percent of Bermuda's land mass.

It is the Island's only self-sustaining quango in that it receives no Government funding but its 2007 annual report warns that it is at a "crossroads" and in need of a significant injection of cash if future development projects in the West End are to go ahead.

BLDC came into being in 1996 as a limited company tasked with developing and managing the former baselands at Southside, Morgan's Point, Daniel's Head and Tudor Hill.

It has responsibility for more than 720 acres: five percent of the Island's land mass. BLDC's goal is to become financially self-sufficient.

Consultants from the UK advised in 2000 that BLDC should merge with Wedco as they shared a common purpose of managing and developing land and having one board of directors could reduce duplication.

The Government's Central Policy Unit looked again at the recommendation in its 2003 Untangling Bermuda's Quangos report and concluded that a merger would "result in economies of scale, financial and operational efficiencies and the sharing of good practice".