The Coco Reef resort will begin paying rent this year, after functioning rent-free for the first five years of its lease.

John Jefferis, owner of the Paget property and who recently won a lifetime achievement award in tourism and travel, was awarded a 50-year lease for the resort in 2003. According to parliamentary questions answered in the House of Assembly on Friday, the rent-free period will end for the resort this year.

Premier Ewart Brown, who is also the Minister of Tourism, was asked: "Would the Honourable Premier please inform this Honourable House as to the amount of rent received and attributable to 20 percent of gross profits in each of the last five years under the terms of the lease between the Bermuda College and Coco Reef?"

His answer was that: "The Bermuda College has not received rent or profit rent. The lease stated that Coco Reef would not pay rent for five years; hence, the first year for the hotel to pay rent will be this year. The hotel's audited financial statements show that there was no gross profit up to 2006, hence no profit rent due.

"The Bermuda College is still awaiting the audited statements for the 2007 year end."

The property has caused much controversy as recently as last month, when the Premier shut down debate in the House after the Opposition alleged corruption in the awarding of an SDO to the resort.

The UBP, during the same debate, had also called for the lease to the resort to be tabled in the House so they might know what is included in it before offering further concessions.

Auditor General Larry Dennis, in a 2004 special report, had said the lease should be re-tendered because it was: "considerably more beneficial" to him (Jefferis) than the tender document specified.

The new document more than doubled the length of the lease from the agreed 21 years to 50 years, drastically reduced the amount of rent to Government, acquired an extra 1.9 acre plot of oceanfront land with two cottages, which were not on the table, and gave permission to build condominiums which can be sold off.

And in January this year Mr. Jefferis, former Elbow Beach managing director, was granted an SDO by Environment Minister El James to build 66 apartments on woodland. Government stated it was important for the Island's tourism product, though the Premier on Friday confirmed that the 66 hotel units will be sold to potential buyers and leased-back to the hotel for transient visitors for six months of the year.

In response to a parliamentary question about the terms for buying or leasing the 66 units, he wrote: "The units will be sold to potential buyers through terms established by the developer, in accordance with Bermuda legislation, government policy and the developer's lease with the College.

"The units will be leased back to the hotel for transient visitors for at least six months of the year for five consecutive years."