Opposition leader Kim Swan has urged a PLP senator to apologise for claiming this week that an environmental group "pimps and prostitutes" issues.

Mr. Swan said Marc Bean should be reprimanded for his "reprehensible" remarks about Bermuda Environmental and Sustainability Taskforce (BEST) — which came a week after he called the same group "very discredited" and a "muppet show".

"Our Island is confronting too many serious issues to be distracted by this contemptible name-calling," said the UBP leader. "It damages public morale and sets a very bad example for young and old alike.

"This is the second time in as many weeks the senator has resorted to demeaning words to attack people in the community and it makes us wonder if he has been given the go-ahead by higher-ups."

Mr. Swan added: "The Premier must reprimand the senator and order him to publicly apologise to the people of BEST. Failure to do so will signal consent.

"We cannot have Government ministers trashing people with whom they disagree or question. It is the ugliest form of politics and sets the kind of example that can feed anti-social behaviour in other areas of Island life."

Premier Ewart Brown said last night: "The leader of the Opposition does not have the moral authority to ask me to reprimand anyone."

"Until he is willing to call upon members of the 'combined Opposition' to apologise for their non-stop, rabid attacks on Wayne Furbert and others, including myself, there will be no reprimand from me. Situational outrage is as unacceptable as selective environmentalism."

Sen. Bean initially attacked BEST after it relaunched its bid to save Southlands amid fears that a land swap deal — which would switch a proposed hotel development from the pristine Warwick estate to Government-owned Morgan's Point — could fall through.

He compared the charity unfavourably to Greenrock, an organisation he claimed was less selective and consulted with Government.

In the Upper Chamber on Wednesday, Sen. Bean said: "That selective silence reveals a lack of integrity and an ulterior, selfish motive, hence my description of their activities as a muppet/puppet show implying that, like a puppet show, the actors are being controlled from behind the scenes.

"In the end, this type of behaviour is a disservice to the ideal of true stewardship to the environment. Let me make it clear, I support the preservation of Southlands and also support the land swap to ensure that all benefit environment, tourism, investors and the people of Bermuda.

"But I do not see favourably on any person or group that pimps or prostitutes any genuine issue environment, crime, etc. to further their selfish motives, as it dilutes the vital energy of those who are genuinely concerned."

BEST chairman Stuart Hayward told The Royal Gazette: "I actually feel sorry for Sen. Bean. Either he has launched his criticism without doing adequate research or he has been misled by someone who put him up to this.

"He complains that BEST has been selective, first because we had nothing to say about the Reefs development. Had the senator done his research, he would know that the Reefs development received Government approval before BEST was formed.

"Second, Sen. Bean criticises me personally, claiming that I was chairman of the Sustainable Development Round Table. Again, basic research would have told him that I was never chairman of that group."

He said BEST members were concerned about all kinds of issues but didn't have the resources to tackle everything.

"It is not for me to comment on Sen. Bean's credibility but it is sad to see him so far off base in pursuing this attack on us."

Greenrock said in a statement yesterday that, along with BEST, it was urging people to sign a petition calling for Southlands to be preserved as protected conservation land and a public park. The petition can be found at www.ipetitions.com/petition/savesouthlandsagain/.

Government granted the owners of Southlands a special development order to build a hotel there in 2007. Greenrock said it raised concerns about that and other building projects getting fast-tracked through the system without proper review.