Opposition MP Trevor Moniz has called for Government to get a grip on the Bermuda Industrial Union accounts after it emerged they are now ten years behind.

The last accounts were submitted in October 2007, covering the period October 1999 to September 2002.

But they were sent back to auditors because they had not been broken down into separate financial years.

Instead a summary had been submitted, with columns for 2002 and 1999 but nothing in between.

It means the last acceptable accounts submitted by the BIU covered the year ending September 30, 1999.

Recently Government forgave the union a $6.8 million bond, taken through a subsidiary Union Asset Holdings Ltd, due after original contractors Pro-Active defaulted on the Berkeley senior school project.

Premier Dr. Ewart Brown said going after the debt risked destroying the union. And he claimed the union had sunk $9 million of its own money into the project.

However, with no official figures is it difficult to tell what went on.

Mr. Moniz said: "It's deplorable, completely unacceptable. Government has fallen down on its responsibilities entirely.

"There is no follow up. People are falling down on their jobs throughout the system. There is no political will at the top to make the system work. Everyone is looking the other way."

Registrar General Marlene Christopher said: "The BIU is on a schedule to submit (overdue accounts), I don't want to give the schedule to you but they have written to us with a promise to submit documentation.

"We are in constant communication with them, hopefully they will honour these commitments."

Explaining why the 1999-2002 figures were sent back she said: "We asked for them to send it in a different format, they promised to do that but we have not received it yet. We wanted to see the year end."

The accounts were signed in the name of Ernst & Young Ltd.

Probed on whether they were responsible for the accounts, a company spokesperson said: "Ernst & Young does not comment on specific companies or clients."

Yesterday, when this paper rang the BIU, a receptionist said union president Chris Furbert was away, adding: "No one here can help you, everyone is off the Island."

Late last year, lawyers CD&P went over the 1999-2002 books and, in documents seen by this paper, noted that accounts receivable had gone up by 585 percent, standing at just under $1 million.

The lawyer wrote: "This clearly makes you wonder what has been going on and if the amount is outstanding, what does it consist of and why hasn't it been collected."

Questions were also raised about unspecified loans of $1.2 million and a 140 percent increase in accounts payable to nearly $600,000.

The lawyer also wrote: "Amounts due to 'Related Party' has increased by 2,031 percent or $846,000.

"Again this is a huge increase over a three-year period and is worthy of an explanatory note setting out who the related party is, why it is owed and how has it come about."

The lawyer also wrote that salaries, wages and administrative expenses had increased by 86 percent in three years.

In 1999 they took up 71 percent of gross profit, by 2002 they amounted to 88.7 percent of gross profit.

Under the Trade Union Act 1965 audited annual accounts must be submitted to the Registrar before the first day of June in every year.

The law says: "Every officer of a trade union which fails to comply with this section commits an offence against this Act."

The punishment is a fine of $72.