MPs sparred once again yesterday over the new court/Police building and LLC cheque scandal, with the Shadow Works and Engineering Minister defending her criticism of the project under the responsibility of public scrutiny.

Patricia Gordon-Pamplin said despite being branded a "mindless marionette" by Works and Engineering Minister Derrick Burgess, she would "come back and defend" herself.

She made the remarks during the Motion to Adjourn in the House of Parliament, after Government MP Zane DeSilva referred to Mr. Burgess' ministerial statement last week, saying it was "normal" for some construction projects to suffer delays and go over-budget.

Mr. DeSilva, president and CEO of Island Construction Services, said this was due to "unforeseen circumstances" such as hitting rock.

"Having recently completed an office project in Bermuda myself, my own project came in several months over-time, and that's because of some of the things mentioned here," he said.

"They happen every day, it's the nature of the business. The magistrates' court and Police station is not unique. We will have delays.

"I understand from my colleague Derrick Burgess that we're back on track but let's not forget there may be things which are unforeseen."

Mr. DeSilva then criticised Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin's letter to The Royal Gazette on Wednesday, in which she claimed someone else had written Mr. Burgess' statement.

Mr. DeSilva accused her of not writing the letter herself, but of it being penned by others in the UBP. Referring to a comment made by the Opposition MP to The Mid Ocean News on January 9, he said: "This whole thing stinks".

"Maybe the stench the honourable member refers to emanates from the reporters and the editors to whom she talks to," he said.

"The air over here is much fresher."

Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin however, then took Mr. Burgess to task for referring to her as a "mindless marionette" in last week's House of Assembly.

"I'm going to come back and defend myself," she said.

She turned the attack back on Government, accusing Mr. Burgess of being incapable of writing his own speeches.

"The Minister (Mr. Burgess) would not have the capability to write that speech," she said of the ministerial statement.

Mr. DeSilva responded: "The honourable member is misleading the House to insinuate that this Minister is not capable of writing that sort of speech. That's very disrespectful, I think she should apologise."

But Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin then said: "Under no circumstances will I permit this Minister to denigrate me and to call me a mindless marionette or anything related thereto."

She said if Mr. Burgess had apologised to her "there would have been no necessity for a letter to the editor".

"I will not stand idle and permit that level of discourse to be directed at me and to take it lying down, because they (Government MPs) have the ability to do so and they know they will get away with it," she said.

Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin said although the Minister could state his position to the House in a statement, she only had the opportunity to speak during the Motion to Adjourn.

"I have no alternative to put my position in the public arena," she said.

"The Minister needs to get used to it and I still intend to take a visit on the site (the court/Police building)."

She said that in other jurisdictions, legislation precluded governments from "doing business with private contractors whose shareholders are not named individuals".

"The Government here has used a trust, the names of whom we don't know," said Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin.

"I think the public of Bermuda are owed a duty of disclosure and should be entitled to have that level of scrutiny, to know where their money is being spent.

"I'm perfectly capable of defending my position but more importantly, to scrutinise the spending by Government of the money of the people of Bermuda, because they deserve that scrutiny."

However, Mr. Burgess responded: "This member is always complaining and nagging."