A roofing expert and a former Board of Works member have been accused of ?sour grapes? by a Government Minister after warning about the state of the leaking roof gym roof at the newly opened $120 million Berkeley Institute senior school.

Works and Engineering Minister Sen. David Burch yesterday accused them of making ?scurrilous and misleading comments? in what ?can only be described as ?sour grapes? at not being awarded the contract for the provision of the roofing materials at the new senior school.?

But his United Bermuda Party opposite number Jon Brunson yesterday called for all repairs carried out at the new Berkeley Institute senior school to be made public after the gym roof started leaking only a week after the building opened its doors to students.

The roof started leaking when Hurricane Florence side-swiped the Island last week.

As reported in yesterday?s roofing specialists SKB Coatings have blamed the problem on the contractors not following their company?s specifications and installing much larger roofing tiles that are more vulnerable to cracking at the joints.

But Sen. Burch has rejected the comments of SKB owner Ricky Sousa and former Public Works Board member Graeme Outerbridge, claiming they were displaying ?sour grapes? because SKB was not awarded the contract to provide the roofing for the school.

He branded their warnings ?scurrilous and misleading? and said the roof leak had been caused as a result of problems with the flashings ? strips used to prevent water penetration at roof joints ? and these were now being addressed by the contractor responsible. He also said the roof was under warranty.

But UBP MP Mr. Brunson has taken issue with the Minister being so quick to dismiss anyone who dares raise concerns about the quality of work at the school.

And he has called for Government to ?ring fence? the costs of running, maintaining and repairing the school during its initial year so that any faults in the construction that need to be rectified can be clearly monitored.

?Any time a concerned party raises an issue about the school this Government dismisses the concerns. The fact is the roof had a leak in it and the building has only been open for two weeks,? said Mr. Brunson.

?The Minister now says that corrective measures will be taken. But when and how long will they take?

?I believe a ring fence should be put around the school finances to see how much is spent on repair and maintenance to see what these items are. This is a brand new school and it has not yet had any wear and tear. If you monitor the repairs on the school I suggest they will be shocking.?

Mr. Brunson said Government had repeatedly ignored warnings from experts about aspects of the construction project, which resulted in the original contractor Pro-Active Management being replaced midway through the scheme and claims earlier this year by Canadian construction inspector Gabe Martel that there was a litany of faults that needed to be remedied at the school.

?SKB have done thousands of roofs. They are credible experts, but the Minister dismisses their expertise. What does he know?? asked Mr. Brunson.

In a statement yesterday Sen. Burch pointed out that the new school covers 250,000 square feet and there were bound to be some initial teething problems. He said the roof was an alternative system to SKB and therefore the claim that it could not be passed as a SKB warrantied roof was irrelevant. He said the company had merely supplied the materials.

Sen. Burch said the slanted section of roofing on the gym was fine, but a problem had arisen on the flat section.

?This system was also used at the Airport and the performance of it proved acceptable during Hurricane Fabian,? he said.

?It is clear SKB are no longer the only provider of these types of roofs in Bermuda. The Ministry is satisfied the contractor is adequately addressing the issue of leakage and is confident that corrective measures will be completed shortly.?

However, Mr. Brunson pointed out the school is a designated hurricane shelter and yet the gym roof had not handled its first significant test. He said he believed Government was trying to conceal faults at the new school, adding: ?What other types of issues are they going to have on an ongoing basis? Are they going to try to sweep them all under the carpet??