OPPOSITION MP Wayne Furbert is again calling on Government to reveal how many visitors have attended faith-based tourism events.

And the former United Bermuda Party leader accused Government of launching the controversial Faith Based Tourism initiative in a cynical bid to win over religious voters.

Government has given the controversial FBT $400,000 to organise 12 religion-themed events throughout the year. The organisation is run by Andre Curtis, who is also Premier and Tourism Minister Ewart Brown's campaign manager.

Mr. Curtis was paid $200,000 to organise the events, which he claims have so far brought in around 1,500 visitors.

But the scheme has been dogged by controversy, with the Opposition labelling it a scam in order for Mr. Curtis to draw a Government salary.

Last week Mr. Curtis told The Royal Gazette that FBT events had drawn in 1,500 visitors.

"He [Mr. Curtis] pledged that an accurate total number of tourists for the six faith-based tourism events so far would be available next week," the article stated.

However, yesterday Mr. Curtis denied ever making that pledge.

When asked by the Mid-Ocean News if the figures were now available, he replied: "No ¿ that wasn't me ¿ I was misquoted. You have a copy of my contract and you know my contract does not allow me to give those figures. You have to ask the Ministry of Tourism."

This newspaper also e-mailed Dr. Brown's press secretary asking for the figures. No response was received by press time last night.

But Mr. Furbert said the lack of accountability over the issue suggested that the religious get-togethers had failed to attract visitors.

"The reason he can't provide the figures is because there were so few tourists who attended these events," he said.

"This whole scheme has never been about tourism, it has been about getting votes for Ewart Brown. He's using the institution of the Church for political gain.

"The UBP supports faith-based initiatives but we would do it in a different way. It would be up to the churches themselves to organise the events and then approach Government for financial support. Instead, what we have here is Mr. Curtis being paid $200,000 to put events on himself.

"Yet he is unable to provide a breakdown of how that money has been spent or how many people have attended. There's no accountability. The Premier should be disclosing this information to the public if he's confident that he's spent $400,000 of the people's money wisely, and yet he can't. "

Mr. Furbert said that, although he had not taken part in any of the events, he had spoken to a number of attendees.

"From what they tell me, there are very few visitors at these events ¿ it's all Bermudians," he said.

"The people are being taken for a ride and the only people benefiting from this ride are Andre Curtis and Ewart Brown."