The president of a firm involved in the proposed airport redevelopment plans has dismissed claims that a slew of published e-mails between the parties show impropriety.

Steve Nackan, president of Aecon Concessions, said there was nothing underhand about the communications between Aecon, the proposed prime contractor, Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC), and the Bermuda Government over LF Wade International development plans.

Earlier this month the People’s Campaign published a raft of e-mail communications between the parties that it said showed impropriety in the deal. After a press conference called by Finance Minister Bob Richards, in which Mr Nackan along with other CCC and Aecon bosses outlined how the project would work, the People’s Campaign accused the parties of “glossing over” the real issues around the airport.

But Mr Nackan told The Royal Gazette: “The e-mails don’t show any impropriety whatsoever, just routine correspondence between people moving a business transaction forward.”

He added: “The process the CCC team is undertaking is typical of assessing and proposing customised solutions for solving complex major infrastructure projects like the redevelopment of Bermuda’s airport.

“Although the process is typical for the CCC team, it’s a new approach for Bermuda that involves the Government of Canada, so our process may not be clearly and widely understood publicly.

“As the proposed prime contractor, CCC is happy to provide any clarification on the process itself, but in the meantime what I can say is that the focus of the CCC team’s approach and solution being proposed and considered is creating a world-class airport, jobs for Bermudians now and into the future, and enhancing Bermuda’s ability to attract investment and tourism to build and strengthen Bermuda’s economy.”

Aecon’s president, Steve Nackan; its executive chairman, John Beck; CCC’s president, Martin Zablocki; and Finance Minister Bob Richards came together on Wednesday to outline their respective roles amid growing unease about the development proposal.

The People’s Campaign — led by Reverend Nicholas Tweed; Jason Hayward, president of the Bermuda Public Services Union; and Chris Furbert, president of the Bermuda Industrial Union — said that attempts to provide clarity had failed to outline how the deal was put together. “To our great disappointment, instead of providing clarity and answering many of the questions surrounding this ‘deal’, the principals were silent on the question of how we have gotten to this point,” the People’s Campaign said in a statement.