Shadow Finance Minister Bob Richards last night complained nobody was accountable for another $6.8 million that has disappeared "down a rathole".

Mr. Richards said of Government's decision to release Asset Union Holdings of the burden of it its performance bond: "It's poisoned fruit of a poisoned tree of a poisoned root."

He said Government's explanation smacked of deception and nobody was taking responsibility for the very poor governance which has resulted in a huge loss of cash.

Meanwhile, Auditor General Larry Dennis — whom Premier Ewart Brown lambasted for suggesting Government wasn't serious about getting its money back a few weeks ago — shrugged yesterday afternoon: "I am not surprised."

Mr. Richards said Dr. Brown was using a decoy by suggesting the move was similar to the $200 million Butterfield Bank guarantee.

"In the Bank of Butterfield case, the Government is making money by guaranteeing that loan," Mr. Richards told The Royal Gazette.

"That situation was caused by the global catastrophe and was nothing to do with the Bermuda Government. But this whole situation was caused by the Bermuda Government.

"There's a huge difference. They are trying to put a spin on it.

"Nobody wants to see the union dismantled. The real matter people should be asking, taxpayers and union members, is: who is going to be held accountable for all this? Taxpayers are out $6.8 million. Union members have had their hard-won assets put at risk."It's a very sad tale of mismanagement, deception and very, very, very poor governance. The legal fees argument doesn't hold water. The Premier and the union leader agreed the union owed the money. The decision was made as Larry Dennis pointed out because it was viewed that the assets of the union was a national treasure and couldn't be undermined because of this."It was only in January and February that after the Auditor General's special report, the Premier said the Auditor's questioning was evidence that the Auditor was biased and against the Government."Here we are in the middle of May, it transpires that Mr.Dennis was right on the mark. I reckon the Premier owes the Auditor an apology."Mr. Richards said the Premier should have been transparent, adding:"We need to ascertain who was accountable for all this mess. We shouldn't let it be swept under the carpet."This is six or seven million dollars on top of 20 or 30 down a rathole, and no one is accountable. That's not good enough."Mr.Dennis said yesterday:"As readers of my Annual Reports over the past few years can easily conclude, I am not surprised."Readers will note that my Special Report that was tabled in the House of Assembly on March 11, 2009, especially anticipates this decision. The issues, however, would now be better thrashed out in the House and Senate."Giving a perspective on insurance on projects outside Government, Construction Association of Bermuda president Alex DeCouto said:"From a construction industry perspective, there's not much I can say. In many ways I was sympathetic with ProActive's inability to secure a performance bond locally."Clients and their financiers (including local banks) like to make performance bonds a requirement on large projects, but no one is providing bonding facilities (including local banks)."You have to be extremely well capitalised to bond at that level you essentially have to put up the cash, or twice as much in real estate, to the full value of the bond which tends to keep the large contractors large and the small contractors small."I appreciate that the Government has not swept this decision under the table. I like the analogy re: the BTNB guarantee! This is what it is, Government letting UAH off the hook. I'm sure it will be a hotly debated subject in the coming weeks but, for me, the real issue is how the project and the associated mismanagement came to pass."The losses on the project were ten times the value of the bond. I'm sure the industry would like to know what issues were identified, and if any of Government's policies and procedures with regards to the procurement and management of large scale construction projects will be modified as a result."