The president of the Bermuda Hotel Association is calling for a true championship standard golf course at Morgan?s Point.

This comes in the wake of a proposal handed to Government by a group of Harvard Business graduates which includes 60 age-restricted homes, 113 affordable homes,180 condominiums, 90 town centre condominiums, 30 high-end town homes, 343 high-end mid-rise condominiums, an 18-hole championship golf course, 250 room resort hotel, playgrounds, a boardwalk and/or promenade, spa-wellness centre, yacht club and church.

Mike Winfield said he believed the championship golf course to be of fundamental importance as Bermuda looks to improve its product.

?We are hoping that will receive urgent attention from Government as years have gone by and the advent of a new product like this would have a very positive impact on Bermuda?s overall image,? he said.

However, commenting on the latest casino/resort development in the Bahamas, Mr. Winfield remained unconvinced that a casino is the answer to Bermuda?s tourism challenges.

Two of the world?s best-known gaming and hospitality companies ? Harrah?s Entertainment, Inc. and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. ? announced the creation of the Caribbean?s largest single-phase destination resort, the Baha Mar Resort in the Bahamas.

Mr. Winfield said he did believe that any additions to the Island?s inventory of activities needed to be examined thoroughly and both their benefits and drawbacks need to balanced.

?I hasten to add that Bermuda is a very different destination to the Bahamas and I don?t think we should be looking to them for immolating our plans for the future,? he said.

The latest proposal by the group of Harvard graduates is very similar to those of Morgan?s Harbour Investment Limited, who four years ago had their plans pulled by Government.

Their proposal included a golf, marina and residential development, but was pulled because it was claimed to be ?in limbo?.

Another company, BEAM Ltd., led by Alan Burland of BCM McAlpine, was then given a 90 day exclusivity agreement, but that ran out in November 1999. A partner at KPMG Toronto, a guest speaker at the Chamber of Commerce?s AGM last year, Lyall Hall, predicted Bermuda would have casinos within five years.

Mr. Hall told the group that a casino in Bermuda could generate around $110 million a year.

Shadow Environment Minister Cole Simons commended the Harvard students for their study and said he was sure it would be taken under advisement by both the Government and the United Bermuda Party.

?But we ought not be fooled about the reality of the situation. The PLP Government is incompetent when it comes to infrastructure development, closing deals, and attracting new developers to Bermuda, needless to say Morgan?s Point.?

He said under ?ideal conditions? it was very difficult and challenging for any developer to develop an all encompassing community with resident, recreational and open space features, a hotel resort and a marina.

?The social, economic and environmental studies and consideration alone are very challenging, even under ideal situations,? he said.

But with the environmental ?time bomb? which lies in the caves at Morgan?s Point, Mr. Simons said most developers would not want to embark on a project of this magnitude without a ?hold harmless? agreement from the Bermuda Government.

?Had the Government established an Environmental Remediation Fund, from which they could have drawn $2 million a year over four years, they would have had the required resources to address the environmental damage,? he said.

Had this been done, he said, Bermuda would have had a pristine property to offer international developers. ?It is hard to imagine that any prudent developer would invest $35 million-$50 million into Morgan?s Point, knowing that they have a multi-million dollar exposure which could explode at anytime.?