St. George's Mayor the Wor. Henry Hayward yesterday gave a bitter sweet welcome to Government's more than $500,000 cash injection into the Old Town.

Mr. Hayward said it had taken him four years to secure the "long-overdue'' new funding -- to be acquired through changes to the oil wharfage tax system.

During the period, some parts of St. George's had fallen into disrepair, Mr.

Hayward said.

And he believed Government's failure to come up with the cash in that time had probably cost the United Bermuda Party its St. George's North seat.

"It showed Government was not basically concerned with the problems in St.

George's'' he said.

The Ordnance Island bridge ended up having to be completely replaced -- at a taxpayer cost of $320,000 -- due to lack of proper maintenance, he revealed.

The Corporation of St. George's street-cleaning force was four men short.

And the town's back alleys had not been re-paved since 1946. "I don't know of any streets in Bermuda that have not been repaved at least two to three times in that period,'' he said.

Mr. Hayward added the Corporation had been "struggling along for the last 20 years''.

However, he said that despite the past, he was thankful for the funding, which included substantial cash grants to support the town's fire brigade and for repairs to the sewage plant.

He intended to "keep a dialogue going'' with Government.

The Corporation would inform the Finance Ministry of its progress in clearing a $400,000 bank loan and starting a backlog of projects, he said.

A statement from the Finance Ministry yesterday announced Government had agreed to provide St. George's with a further $540,000 in 1994/95 and for the next four years to assist with the Corporation's current account.

The money will come from the Finance Ministry giving the Corporation a larger share of the per-ton tax on fuel products coming into Bermuda via St. George's oil docks, Mr. Hayward explained.

The approximately $10 tax has been increased by $3 to give St. George's a $4.50 per-gallon share of it for the next four years, he said. That would provide the Corporation with an extra $540,000 in annual revenue.

The 1994/95 Budget also provided a capital grant to the Corporation of $100,000 together with a commitment to provide a similar sum in each of the coming three financial years to help clear their current capital debt, the statement said.

Finance Minister the Hon. David Saul stated: "The Government feels that the Corporation of St. George's has made great strides in improving its budgetary procedures. The establishment of a Town Manager, for which Government supplied a $50,000 grant in 1993/94, is believed to be a step in the right direction to ensure continued sound management of their finances.'' Mr. Hayward said the Corporation did not mind going back to a $1.50 share of the fuel products tax when it gets back on its feet and starts accumulating cash.

But he hoped that if after four years, St. George's still had debts and projects to work on, the $4.50 share would remain.