Premier Alex Scott has been urged to speak to the country and explain why one of the most important branches of Government has been effectively shut down because of a haphazard office move.

Weight has been added to a theory that political games are behind the temporary crippling of the Office of the Auditor General over the weekend following a revelation that Works and Engineering Minister David Burch, whose department carried out the 11th hour office move, also tried to put the Auditor General?s finances under the microscope two weeks ago.

And according to Shadow Finance Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin, Bermuda has moved further away from being a sophisticated country after effectively being left without an operating Auditor General?s office.

She spoke out in the wake of a story in yesterday?s Royal Gazette that revealed how the Auditor General?s Office had been told it was moving from its former home on the fourth floor of Victoria Hall in Victoria Street to the third floor ? an office space 1,500 sq ft smaller and lacking computer and telephone infrastructure.

The Ministry of Works and Engineering only announced at 4 p.m. on Friday that it would be sending in its removal team to cart the office furniture downstairs.

It left no time for arrangements to be made to fit out the office with necessary IT and telecommunications connections.

Work to create a smaller room within the new office and a fire exit has also not yet been finished.

?This is outrageous. This is something that happens in Third World countries. Everything this Government does seems to move us further away from being a sophisticated country,? said Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin.

?The Office of the Auditor General needs to have the basic facilities to carry out its function. It is critical that the OAG be given the necessary facilities to do its job.?

The independent office performs a watchdog role over Government?s financial book-keeping and earlier this month was critical of the Government because $800 million of public money could not be readily checked.

In an attempt to turn the microscope back on itself Senator Burch requested an auditor check the Office of the Auditor General?s own expenses and revenues.

He made the request during a brief moment in charge of the Finance Ministry while Minister Paula Cox was off Island in Washington DC, but retracted the suggestion with an apology a day later after the timing was strongly criticised by Auditor General Larry Dennis.

In the past Mr. Dennis has advocated a financial checker audit his office but he regarded the timing of Sen. Burch?s request as suspect.

In a document obtained by the Royal Gazette, in which he wrote to Ottiwell Simmons, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Office of the Auditor General, he said: ?The timing of this supreme effort by the in situ Minister of Works and Engineering, coinciding as it does with the Minister?s attempt to squeeze the Office of the Auditor General in brazenly inadequate accommodations, will also be interpreted as a transparent Government attempt to intimidate the Auditor General and bring him to heel.

?Internationally, and I think here in Bermuda, this is considered attacking the Auditor General?s independence.?

He suggested the question of an audit on the Office of the Auditor General be made effective from April 2007 when the Standing Committee would have time to secure funding to appoint an auditor.

Shadow Finance Minister Mrs. Pamplin-Gordon said she had concerns about the security of the Auditor General?s office and said the Standing Committee, on which she is also a member, had tried to broker a solution when it became clear there were unresolved issues between the Office of the Auditor General and the Ministry of W&E about the proposed new office space, particularly its smaller dimensions, layout and lack of IT and telephone infrastructure.

?We invited the Ministry of Works and Engineering to come and meet the Standing Committee. We invited the Minister or a representative to come and have a meeting but they said they were unavailable to meet with us,? she said. ?Works and Engineering left it so late. I do not believe W&E acted as well as they should have done for an office as important as the Auditor General. If they were going to move then they should have been given adequate time to pack up their files get their new environment wired up. ?They cannot do their work properly and that undermines the integrity of the office.?

Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin said if the circumstances of the move was not an attack on the Auditor General?s office it certainly had the appearance of one.

?It seems odd that the Office of the Auditor General should be under this barrage very soon after its annual report critical of the Government.?

She added: ?Given the totality of all these instances it would lead one to question if there was some ulterior motive.?

It is known that the Ministry of W&E is seeking to reduce the cost of running Government offices, especially those leased within privately owned office blocks, and has created a new office size rationale based on factors such as the number of staff working in that office. The rationale guidelines, outlined in April, have been applied to the new smaller premises for the Office of the Auditor General. Michael Dunkley, Deputy Leader of the United Bermuda Party, said: ?I?m seriously concerned. I think everyone in the Opposition will support efforts to reduce the cost of Government business but it has to be well thought out and planned.

?Because otherwise, as has been seen here, it jeopardises an important office serving the people of Bermuda.

?The Minister (Sen. Burch) has made a grave error of judgement and it is for the Premier to tell the people of Bermuda what is going on and clear it up right away.

?The Minister cannot be allowed to carry on digging himself deeper and deeper into a hole. He needs to drop the shovel.?

Mr. Dunkley pointed out that the Office of the Auditor General, in its independent watchdog role, was known to be critical of Government without showing favouritism to the Government of the day whether it UBP or PLP. He said that it was vital for the people of the Bermuda and the country that the Auditor General be allowed to carry on his work with the necessary resources.

Mr. Simmons, Chairman of the Standing Committee on the Office of the Auditor General, said he believed the issues raised by the office move would be resolved quickly.

Auditor General Mr. Dennis is currently in Canada. Acting Auditor General Barry Neilson said staff were making some progress in attempting to equip their sparse and unprepared new office. He said support had been offered by the Bermuda Telephone Company to install telephone lines and from the IT Office.

Attempts by the Royal Gazette to contact Sen. Burch yesterday were unsuccessful. However, in a letter to the Auditor General on May 25, the Minister said there had been ?no attempt to penalise you or your office?.