contract that went out to tender.

Gilbert Lopes, of G L Construction, claims he was told by Raymonde Dill, General Manager of the umberella group Bermuda Housing Corporation, that his estimate for the project was the best.

Mr. Lopes said he had quoted a price of just over $3.3 million and an original completion time of 32 weeks for the 18 seniors' units, with recreation room, at Southside in St. David's.

Three other firms put in bids, but Mr. Lopes said he was led to believe he had won the contract.

He said: "Raymonde Dill called me to meet with him and go over the bid price.

"He said I had the best bid and best time.

"He said he was going to meet with the other bidders to talk to them as well.

I can only presume it was to give them a chance to review their bids.

"But he said he was quite happy and he would call me back to review the contract. The way he was talking, I thought I had won the contract.'' There is no law to stipulate that Government should accept the lowest bid and shortest time when putting contracts out to tender.

What they must do, however, is choose the best and most suitable bid, taking into consideration everything, including quality, reputation, cost, time and so on.

But Mr. Lopes said he felt he had not been given a fair crack at the whip.

He said as the other bidders were contacted after him, they may have been given an opportunity to lower their prices.

However, he said he was not given the opportunity to lower his price or undercut any other bidders.

He added: "Also, usually they give you the time scales and prices when they write to you with the outcome, but they didn't do that this time.

"They just said I had been unsuccessful, and I can't understand why.'' The Royal Gazette tried on a number of occasions to make contact with Mr.

Dill, but was repeatedly unable to.

However, the man who won the contract, Dr. Victor Walters, of Central Construction, said nothing had been out of the ordinary.

He denied that he had been given a chance to review his bid and said the price accepted was his original bid.

Mr. Walters said: "I put an offer in and that's the way it stayed.

"I did not change my bid and I was not given an opportunity to change my bid.

The initial bid that I put in was the one that was accepted.'' Dr. Walters said he would not reveal his price without first receiving the go-ahead from the trust, but said his completion time was 32 weeks.

And he said he had previously done work for the corporation.

He added: "The gentleman that I deal with in Bermuda Housing Corporation has nothing to do with Bermuda Housing Trust.

"They are completely different altogether and the trust awarded the contract.