The Bermuda Housing Corporation has intervened and apologised after construction staff at the Bermudiana Beach Resort in Warwick went unpaid for weeks.

The agency did not detail how the workers went without pay but said it was confident the issue would not happen again.

The BHC learnt of the delayed payments this week after The Royal Gazette fielded two separate complaints from workers at the boutique hotel site on the former Grand Atlantic housing complex overlooking the South Shore.

Both workers requested anonymity, with one stating: “The men working at the Bermudiana construction site have not been paid in more than a month.

“This includes the general contractor and the subcontractors. These men have families and financial obligations.”

The worker added: “This is a Bermuda Government construction project — the small contractors should not have to finance the project for the Bermuda Government and the workers should not go unpaid.”

The BHC stated on Monday after questions were submitted that it was only made aware of the delayed payments that day.

“The BHC has worked closely with the general contractor throughout this development to ensure that all subcontractors, and by extension, the workers, are paid on time.”

After being alerted, BHC said it had discovered that three weekly subcontractors had not been paid for the last two weeks.

“Immediately, the necessary funds were made available and the general contractor has paid the subcontractors.

“We apologise to the subcontractors for this delay as we fully recognise that every citizen has financial obligations and responsibilities, and at no stage would we knowingly jeopardise the ability of hard working people to meet their commitments.

“We have addressed this issue with the general contractor and we are confident that the issue has been resolved and will not occur again.”

The Gazette questioned why the payments had not gone through, but details were not given.

One worker alleged on July 31 that he had not been paid in three weeks.

The Bermudiana project is under the direction of the BHC, which has partnered with the Tapestry Collection by Hilton brand.

The hotel and condominium development, expected to take its first guests by next summer, was hailed as critical this year for the recovery of Bermuda’s hard-hit tourism industry, particularly after the 2020 closure of the Fairmont Southampton hotel shut down the island’s biggest resort.

The House of Assembly heard over the summer that the development, which was delayed for years by the onset of the global Covid-19 pandemic, would cost more than $92 million.

However, Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, the Minister of Public Works, vowed that “every dollar” from the public purse would be repaid to taxpayers based on the success of the resort.

The Tapestry website gives July 25, 2024 as the opening date for the hotel.

The Government was asked which firms where involved in the failure to pay workers, but failed to identify them.