The Corporation of Hamilton hit back at comments made by the Premier, who claimed that its officials stood in the way of government proposals for national sewerage infrastructure.

David Burt told the House of Assembly on Friday night, in the debate that led to the approval of the Municipalities Reform Act 2026, that the Government’s intervention in the governance of Hamilton and St George had become “an issue of necessity”.

He said that an offer from Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, when he was the public works minister, had been declined by the Corporation of Hamilton for a government-funded island-wide sewerage system.

Instead, Mr Burt said, the City continued to pump treated waste off the South Shore.

In response, the corporation rejected “the suggestion that it blocked or prevented the Government from pursuing a national sewerage system”.

A statement said the corporation had given professional input as part of consultation for “government-appointed consultants examining options for island-wide sewerage infrastructure”.

It added: “At no time did the corporation issue any directive, formal objection or correspondence stating that the Government could not proceed with a national sewer system.”

The corporation said that concerns were aired over “significant” costs to build and run a centralised national system, likely requiring hundreds of millions invested upfront with “substantial ongoing operational costs”.

“While the Premier suggested that the Government was prepared to finance such a system, projects of this scale are ultimately funded by the public purse,” it added.

The corporation noted that it held no authority to prevent the Government from implementing national infrastructure.

“Under the Municipalities Act, the responsible minister has the power to issue directions to the corporation on matters deemed to be of national importance.”

It said no such directive had come.

The corporation said that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources laid out operating conditions for its sewage disposal under its licence, and had approved its continuing upgrades to the system.

It said it had also stated that its planned improvements and “any future national infrastructure initiatives were not mutually exclusive”.

The statement defended the City’s adherence to a comprehensive asset management plan in accordance with government requirements.

It said the City sewerage system has served Hamilton and its environs for more than a century, and was being fitted with upgrades to disinfect and screen effluent released via its outfall off the South Shore.

The City also implemented a fat, oil and grease disposal policy in 2014.

Charles Gosling, the Mayor of Hamilton, said that the corporation had reviewed “the scale and cost of the national infrastructure proposals during consultation”.

He said engineering assessments indicated that a fully centralised sewerage system for Bermuda would entail “substantial” costs — with a proposed East End system projected at $70 million in 2017.

“Expanding a similar system across the entire island would represent a far larger investment and would require extensive trenching across public roads and private access ways to install new sewer lines.”

Mr Gosling added: “The City’s position was never about blocking national infrastructure.

“During consultation we simply raised legitimate questions about the scale, cost and long-term sustainability of the proposals being discussed.

“At the same time, the corporation has continued investing in practical improvements to the City’s wastewater system that protect our marine environment while remaining financially responsible for Bermuda’s taxpayers.”