The Ministry of Works and Engineering this week stated that it had acted innocently when it built a road at Baileys Bay Cricket Club without planning permission.

This story first broke in December when the Development Applications Board rejected a retroactive application by the Ministry for a road alignment and landfill at Grotto Bay, part of a project to expand Bailey's Bay Cricket Club which imposed on both the national parkland and coastal reserve.

The DAB expressed its "disappointment" that the Ministry had carried out the work without planning permission. The National Trust weighed in, saying that it showed "blatant" disregard for planning laws.

The Trust said the new road effectively "dissected" Wilkinson Memorial National Park, a designated Class B protected area.

Since then, it has been alleged that Works Minister Derrick Burgess personally authorised the "illegal dumping" of excavation materials without the knowledge or support of Works and Engineering officials.

The result? According to consultant structural engineer Sean Smeltzer, of Works and Engineering, it was this: "Unfortunately, an unauthorised and unsightly spoil heap consisting of excavated material has been formed at the head of the small bay, destroying any ecological or amenity value it might have had."

Two months after this story first broke, and more than six months since work was stopped on the project, the Ministry finally broke its silence on Monday. But the statement raised more questions than it answered, and did not answer the questions The Royal Gazette submitted in December.

In the statement, the Ministry confirmed that work started on the road last March.

It added: "However, the Ministry of Works and Engineering was advised by the then Ministry of Environment, Telecommunications and E-Commerce that planning permission was required for the work to take place. The work stopped immediately.

"There was never an intention to ignore or circumvent planning requirements.

"Therefore, upon learning that planning permission was required, the Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, JP, MP, Minister of Works and Engineering, directed that the work not restart until the required planning permission had been obtained."

You might think from this that the Ministry started the work without planning permission and when Mr. Burgess learned of the problem, he stepped in.

But that does not square with the statements on the planning file that Mr. Burgess personally authorised the dumping of rubble "destroying any ecological or amenity value (the head of the small bay) might have had".

And it does not explain who authorised the work in the first place.

Nor does it explain why no one thought to seek planning permission. One would have thought that the civil servants in Works, who deal with roadworks, building and planning issues on a daily basis, would have known that this work required planning permission, especially as it impinged on a national park, which carries special protection. It boggles the mind that this would not have happened, and if it did, heads should roll.

But isn't it also possible that Mr. Burgess took it upon himself to authorise the whole project, and the allegation – and it is no more than that at this stage (even if it did come from Jack Ward, the Director of Environmental Conservation in the Environment Ministry) – that he authorised the illegal dumping adds weight to this.

Why would that decision have been taken by the Minister without the knowledge of his own civil servants if the project was being administered by them?

Bermuda deserves answers.