Government gave the public inaccurate information about work permits at the Heritage Wharf project, according to Shadow Public Works Minister Derrick Burgess.Public Works Minister Trevor Moniz issued a statement on May 31 stating that “around 20” overseas personnel were working on the project, along with around 71 Bermudians.But according to figures released on Friday by the Ministry of Home Affairs, more than 30 work permits had been issued when Mr Moniz made that statement.Mr Burgess said he was “shocked” by the information, which he said suggested Government’s claim that 75 percent of the workforce would be Bermudian was wrong.But Government insisted yesterday that the number of work permits does not necessarily equate to the number of foreign personnel on the site.“The information that’s coming out of the Works and Engineering Minister is not factual. It’s not correct,” Mr Burgess said.“Even when the Minister made his statement in May that was wrong because, based on the statement I have here, as of April there were 33 work permits issued. There were more work permits than he reported.”He renewed calls for the Government to provide more information about employment on the $22.3 million project, specifically the number of hours worked by Bermudians at the site in comparison to that of non-Bermudians.“That is the only true test what percentage of Bermudians did work there,” Mr Burgess said. “I have asked the Minister before to provide that information.“He said that was silly, but that’s the only way to do it, and I know they do it at another site in Bermuda. It’s not rocket science.”Yesterday, a spokesman for the Public Works Ministry responded: “The number of work permits granted does not necessarily reflect the proportion of permit holders working on the Heritage Wharf during the project.“Some permits were issued for people who came only for a few days. Other permits were issued in case they would be needed but were never used. Some permits were issued for a three-month period and when expired another permit issued so workers could stay for a short time beyond three months.“In May 2013 there were approximately 20 foreign staff on site. Many local personnel were employed by our contractors; Sunrise Construction, Crisson Construction and Onsite Engineering.“As the proportion of local and non-local staff varied from week to week it is difficult to report the exact percentage of locals employed on site. However, Government policy that Bermudians should be employed first was always clear and complied with without exception.”The spokesman insisted that the project had been “well managed and made ready for the arrival of the NorwegianBreakaway as promised” and that non Bermudians had been hired only because of the “specialist technical and construction requirement of the project”.The project first came under fire regarding the use of foreign labour in early March when Mr Burgess questioned why 15 work permits had been issued for the site, when the previous contractor only needed two.Government responded that 22 temporary work permits had been approved for the project, but only in fields where technical expertise is not available locally.Despite the permits, Mr Moniz promised more than 75 percent of the employees working on the project would be Bermudian.In a statement made in the House of Assembly on May 31, Mr Moniz said: “In short, through the project there have been approximately 20 overseas personnel who have been needed for the project and 71 local employees.“This does not include local support services or local contractors listed above that have contributed to the project. I have said before that the figures are difficult to provide and this remains the case.“These numbers are not definitive but they are a fair representation. If there is a desire for a clearer demonstration of the distribution of work then we will happily provide that at the completion of the project.”According to figures released by the Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday, a total of 45 temporary work permits were issued in connection with the project, 44 of which were used.However, a spreadsheet provided by the Ministry included lists a total of 46 temporary work permits.According to the spreadsheet one permit was listed as issued in February and another 29 were issued in March. Four more were issued in April, two in May, and nine in June. All of the permits were three months in duration, but the spreadsheet states that several of the guest workers did not work the entire duration of that period.The Ministries of Home Affairs was also contacted in connection to this story, but did not respond as of press timeThe Public Works Ministry spokesman added: “It is fair to say that the prediction early in the job that approximately 75 percent of staff employed on the site would be local was accurate, in the latter half of the project the proportion was far in excess of this.“In addition to direct employment on the job site, materials and services were also procured on Island where possible and several other local engineering and construction companies were involved in various aspects of the project.”