The Corporation of Hamilton has leased City waterfront property to developers.But it is maintaining a stony silence over the arrangement and Government is yet to conduct its due diligence on the project.Mayor Graeme Outerbridge revealed that the lease had been signed with the developers of the waterfront redevelopment project at a Chamber of Commerce meeting on January 29.He would not provide any further information when questioned by Chamber members.Former Mayor Charles Gosling, who was at the meeting, said the fact that a lease had been signed was concerning.“That gives them the right to take possession of the waterfront and to develop it in a manner the public is not aware. We have no idea what the obligations are on either party, what the time lines are, or the extent of the project,” Mr Gosling said.“Essentially, the developers are the owners of the waterfront.”Michael Maclean, who with construction boss Alex DeCouto heads up the selected developer Allied World Development, would not say if the development agreement included a lease.Mayor Outerbridge said earlier this week that the City had provided “information” to Government about the project.Further questions from this newspaper were ignored on Sunday.On Monday, we submitted more questions asking for details about the lease, the identity of the financiers and why the City had committed to a lease before briefing the Government.No responses were received by press time last night.Finance Minister Bob Richards said he had not had a chance to examine the package of information the City sent to the Economic Development Committee.“They really cannot go ahead without the acquiescence and blessings of the Government,” Mr Richards said.“We will be looking at all information on this from the point of view of what’s best for Bermuda.”He added: “I think a lot of people are concerned and it’s not a good thing for the Corporation and Government to be at sixes and sevens.”Besides announcing Allied World as lead developers six weeks ago, little has been revealed about the waterfront project despite assurances of transparency by the City.Government-City relations chilled after the mayor refused Government’s request not to go ahead with its announcement as it had not been fully briefed.“The temperature has been lowered. We’ve been given some information, whether that is enough I cannot say. But it’s still a situation where we have to look at it and make some judgments on it,” said Mr Richards.Some have questioned the City’s approach to the project since a request for proposal was issued in September last year.An ad in this newspaper said that the Corporation “formally invites requests for proposals from all parties interested in the Front Street Waterfront Project.“The successful candidate will be expected to partner with the Corporation of Hamilton and other interested agencies on an agreed/final concept”.Interested parties were given less than a month to submit proposals.The Chamber of Commerce said then that some of its members felt the RFP was “too broad and non-specific”.On Monday Mr Gosling said that the RFP sought conceptual ideas “not to put together a developer package for Bermuda’s largest single project of all time nor to go to the extent of finding a developer lease agreement”.“When the parameters were changed, the bid process should have been amended and extended with all potential interested parties being informed of this and allowed to bid or rebid,” he said.Sir John Swan, a longtime advocate of redeveloping the waterfront, has said that he declined to participate when invited because of concerns about the process.