National Sports Centre trustees could be wasting another $650,000 of taxpayers' money by "cutting corners'' on work to replace the running track.

That is the view of Shadow Youth and Sports Minister Nelson Bascome, who is urging trustees to obtain a guarantee for the project from consultants.

He told The Royal Gazette that on-site workmen replacing the blistered track were leaving the original concrete base in place.

But experts believe the concrete was to blame for severe drainage problems which have now caused the track to be ripped up three times.

And Mr. Bascome said the base for the track should be made of asphalt, according to several Bermudian experts and some officials from the Bermuda Track and Field Association.

He said: "It seems to me like they are cutting corners and we are in danger of making the same mistake twice.

"We are supposed to be improving the design but they haven't even taken the base up, which was the root of the old problem.

"It's definitely wrong to me.'' The re-laid track, Bermuda's only synthetic 400-metre surface, will not be ready until the end of August at the earliest.

Poor drainage caused the first problems with the track, when it started to bubble back in 1996.

Parts of the surface had to be re-laid, even though the Canadian firm which first installed the track had gone out of business.

Then the track started rupturing and blistering during 1997, when more repair work was needed.

Mr. Bascome added: "I do hope that we are not exposing ourselves to having this track ripped up yet again.

"I want to know what the guarantee is. If it goes wrong this time, will Bermuda pay for it yet again?'' It is thought more than $1.5 million has now been spent on the track.

The latest work, costing $650,000, has forced dozens of athletes to switch their training schedules to the grass track at Spice Valley Middle School.

It has also come just as Bermudian athletes are preparing for the CAC games in Venezuela on August 9.

But Sports Centre general manager Cliff Wade said the work had to be done during July and August because they were the driest months.

And he refused to respond to Mr. Bascome's money-wasting claims, saying the shadow minister should first have talked to the trustees.

"If Mr. Bascome had spoken to the trustees, we could have brought him up to date.

"I cannot answer his points publicly. If they are brought to the trustees, we will publicly address them.

"All I can say is that the work is on-going and we have removed the actual track surface. We are also removing the adhesive that is actually bonded to the concrete.'' Four months ago, Mr. Bascome accused the trustees of wasting money by appointing an English groundsman to lay a new cricket pitch at the centre -- even though Government spent thousands on expert training courses for two Bermudians in the 1980s.

The $46 million sports centre -- which could even host World Cup cricket matches -- is due to open in 2001.