PREMIER Ewart Brown's integrity is once more being challenged following revelations of the collapse of a hotel development deal.Opposition deputy leader Michael Dunkley is calling on Dr. Brown to prove his claim that he first went public with news of the collapse nearly two months ago.

Dr. Brown brokered the deal for the derelict Club Med resort at the start of the year when he was Minister of Tourism.

But the move to bring in Connecticut-based developer KJA Developments to relaunch the St. George's resort was mired in controversy after it was revealed that another company — the Quorum Group — had been on the verge of completing a $220 million deal, before Dr. Brown stepped in.

At a Press conference announcing visitor arrival figures last Thursday, Dr. Brown was asked if the deal had fallen through. He confirmed that it had, adding that he had made the announcement six weeks earlier.

But neither this newspaper nor its sister publication, The Royal Gazette<$>, has received any statement from Government announcing the collapse and no other organisation had broken the story before last week. Government's Department of Communication and Information did not respond to a request by the Mid-Ocean News this week for copies of any earlier press statements on the issue.

Yesterday Mr. Dunkley accused Dr. Brown of trying to bury the issue in an effort to protect his reputation as "a man who gets things done".

Mr. Dunkley said: "The Premier should provide proof for his claim last week that he informed the press in late September or early October that the scheme to develop the Club Med site in St. George's had fallen through.

"The Premier made the claim during a press conference after revealing that the would-be developer had been dropped after his period of exclusivity for had expired.

"No one from the press has since been able to produce evidence of such notification from the Premier.

"In light of this and for the sake of the integrity of the Office of the Premier, Dr. Brown should provide whatever proof is necessary to support his claim.

"The Premier has an immense appetite for the spotlight. He loves to portray himself as the can-do man of action, but when reality collides with the image, as it does in this case, the facts suddenly get blurred, the truth becomes hard to find and important matters become yesterday's news.

"The Premier can't have it both ways. We urge him to clear up this odd situation."

Dr. Brown is currently off island and could not be reached for comment last night.