The troubled general contractor of the new senior school development is being sued after failing to pay more than $20,000 for supplies and mill work.

BCM McAlpine is taking Pro-Active Management Systems Ltd. to court in a bid to get the outstanding debt cleared.

BCM president Alan Burland reluctantly spoke to The Royal Gazette last night, and said court action was always the last resort, but the company felt it had no option.

"The matter involves building supply charges, some of which are about a year old," said Mr. Burland.

"We last spoke to them about the account last summer to try and get the thing sorted out, but we have had no response or payment since then.

"They were paying up on the account, bits and pieces, until then, but then they stopped. This is a standard protocol within our business. If we have an account that's outstanding, without any attempt to make it good, then it's with reluctance that we take people to court.

"We try to work with our clients as much as we can, but we have to protect our business."

Pro-Active are said to owe hundreds of thousands of dollars to suppliers and sub-contractors who have assisted in the building of the new $70 million secondary school, which is to replace the Berkeley Institute.

A number of contractors have refused to turn up to the site to work until they are paid, and suppliers have stopped sending in materials.

Last week, the Works and Engineering Ministry held crisis talks with Pro-Active in a bid to solve the rising debt and get the project, which has almost come to standstill, kick-started again.

And on Friday, Works Minister Alex Scott hinted that a new management company was to be brought in to oversee the site, rumoured to be Somers Construction, and said all debts would be paid in the hope that work on the lagging site could begin again in earnest.

He refused, however, to say how the debt would be paid off.

One worker on the job site yesterday said there was still little activity.

The worker said Pro-Active had promised to meet with its staff yesterday to explain the situation, but then did not show up.

He said: "There is nothing happening down here. Everyone is trying to look busy, but we have nothing to work with - no supplies. We are doing nothing.

"We have no diesel, so I don't think any of the equipment will work from tomorrow (Tuesday), and we have no block.

"The project is falling further and further behind. It's desperate."

Sources told The Royal Gazette last week that at least two companies were owed in excess of $200,000, with many more owed smaller amounts.

Sub-contractors said they had been told by Pro-Active that the reason they had not been paid was because Government, which owns the project, had been withholding cash.

However, the contractors said they took that excuse with a pinch of salt.

However, they each asked 'where has the money gone'?

Mr. Burland said last night that he had not had any contact with Government over the debt, and so had not been surprised that the Ministry of Works and Engineering had not contacted the company to assist with the payment.

He said contacting Government would not be the normal course of action for BCM - but taking Pro-Active to court would.

The massive project has been in the headlines since before it even got off the ground.

Government was heavily criticised when it awarded the contract to Pro-Active back in May 2001, as the company did not put in the lowest bid and had little experience or reputation.

Technical officers within the works ministry had even highlighted Pro-Active as a "high risk".

Concerns were raised that Pro-Active had merely been given the job because many of its key players were supporters of the ruling Progressive Labour Party.

But Mr. Scott denied that from the outset and said Pro-Active had been chosen because it was the most responsive to Government's requirements.

However, the development got off to a slow start and is now estimated to be about a year behind its September 2003 deadline.

A construction industry source said: "It has been quite unbelievable from the outset. Pro-Active never had the experience or knowledge to run this site.

"If you are trying to get a 747 to fly from Bermuda to London, why would you go and employ someone who only had the experience of flying a small Cessna aircraft during daylight hours?"