Shadow Minister of Public Works, Derrick Burgess, has accused the One Bermuda Alliance Government of bypassing unemployed, qualified Bermudians in favour of foreign workers.However Government responded that more than three quarters of those working at the Heritage Wharf project will be Bermudian.Speaking at a press conference at Alaska Hall yesterday, Mr Burgess claimed 22 temporary work permits were issued for the Heritage Wharf Project for jobs that were not advertised for Bermudians first.Said Mr Burgess: “This is the first time I would venture to say, that 22 temporary work permits has been granted to a single employer. This is cause for much alarm.“It would have been good for the OBA to come clean with the public about the job categories of these work permits for which Bermudians were not even given the opportunity to apply.”He noted that 99 percent of the work done on previous projects including the St George’s Cruise Ship Dock, the Esso Oil Docks, the Hamilton Docks at #5 and #8 was done by Bermudians. The jobs included welders, pile drivers, carpenters, rebar workers and crane operators.And he stated that the people were promised that 75 percent of the workers required for the Heritage Wharf site would be Bermudians.Mr Burgess questioned how many Bermudians were actually employed on the Dockyard project now.“Minister Fahy said they had to bring in underwater welders. We have Bermudians who are qualified and certified underwater welders, who don’t have work,” he said.Meanwhile, the Shadow Minister stated that “under the OBA, Bermudian companies were left out in the cold while two cranes, two high lifts, two barges, and a tug boat used to bring the barges to Bermuda, which we understand to be costing the tax payer $100,000 per trip, were brought in from overseas”.Said Mr Burgess: “All of this equipment is and has been available in Bermuda yet the OBA denied Bermudian companies the opportunity to provide their services and put the money that they would have earned, back into our economy.“The OBA has claimed that this project will cost $22.3 million, but an independent estimating company has costed this at $7 million, a difference of over $15 million. With the denial of opportunities for Bermudians and the lack of openness and transparency permeating this project, The OBA owes Bermudians an explanation,” he said.But when asked to reveal the name of the company that submitted the lower estimate Mr Burgess replied: “That’s a private matter.”He insisted however that all “the necessary resources are here” in Bermuda and noted that “quite a few of our people are out of work and they would enjoy to be there”.A Ministry spokeswoman responded that more than 75 percent of the workforce involved in the project are Bermudian, and that barges, cranes and other equipment needed were “larger what are found locally and require skilled handling”.“The local consortia of Sunrise Construction Limited, Crisson Construction Limited and Onsite Engineering Limited are contracted for the works and they will continue to employ Bermudian staff,” the spokeswoman said.“However they will also be employing staff from abroad to operate the barges and pile driving equipment in a safe manner without danger to local employees.“In order to undertake the works in the restricted timescale and to a high quality the Ministry has imported the piles in 120ft lengths. This reduces the amount of time needed for site welding considerably, but unfortunately it requires that equipment be introduced that is capable of handling this size of pile.”The spokeswoman also explained that the project requires a number of qualified welders, with weld test failures causing delays that would potentially prevent the dock being completed on schedule.“The Ministry has been putting Bermudian welders through a testing regime and certifying them for use on the project,” the spokeswoman said. “The fact is that the welds are specialised but the Ministry has been able to pass a number of Bermudians for the project.“The additional welding resources provides the Ministry with flexibility and will hopefully ensure some time is made up for the delays caused by the severe winds the Dockyard area has experienced.”The dock is set to be completed in time for the arrival of the Norwegian Breakaway on May 15.