How much money was spent renovating "The Cottage" at Dockyard as a temporary home for the then Governor, while work was carried out on Government House in the 1990s is to be investigated by the Government.

It is in response to the rumbling row over $1.5 million being spent on preparing Clifton as a permanent official residence for the Premier.

Responding to criticism of the amount of cash being used to renovate Clifton, Attorney General Sen. Larry Mussenden said the Government intended to investigate how much money the United Bermuda Party had spent when it was in power to refurbish "The Cottage", the former residence of the Senior Royal Navy Officer in Bermuda, at Dockyard as a temporary home for the Governor while the official residence was renovated. Works and Engineering and Housing Minister Sen. Lt. Col. Burch gave a break down of the cost of the Clifton renovations to the Senate and said the entire project was budgeted to cost $1.45 million and should allow Premier Alex Scott and his family to move in early in 2006.

UBP Sen. Bob Richards questioned the Government's reference to Clifton as "The People's House" saying the only connection it had with "the people" was that taxpayers' money was helping to fund the renovations and said the timing of the project was "particularly unfortunate" given the Island's housing shortage.

Sen. Mussenden hit back accusing the UBP of "rolling out the cash to support the appointed Governor from England to live in the circumstances that they chose him to live in."

He added: "I have been to other overseas territories and I have seen other government houses and they are nothing like the Government House that we have. There was no hesitation then for the UBP Government to roll out the cash.

"After 1992 the UBP decided to spend a few million more on Government House and decided they would move the Governor out to Dockyard and when they did that they had to fit out the cottage at Dockyard.

He said they had not wanted to spend a cent on a locally elected leader. Addressing his UBP counterparts, he added: "You fixed up the cottage at Dockyard. How much money did you spend up there? We'll find that out too and we'll come back and tell the country."