Government yesterday officially announced the cancellation of this year?s Annual Exhibition.

However, Environment Minister Neletha Butterfield, while voicing disappointment and regret, promised the exhibition will return better than ever in 2005. And a ?country fair? hosted by the SPCA will take place on April 24 instead of the exhibition. ?I note this is now old news and I apologise for that,? the Minister said at a Press conference at the Botanical Gardens. ?The Press conference was arranged last week and it was certainly not my intention to advise the public via correspondence between members of a local federation.

?Needless to say, this was not an easy decision to make. It was made only after a careful assessment of all the factors associated with the repair and restoration of the buildings and grounds in time for the exhibition, and after a thorough review of all other options.?

Most of the damage is covered by insurance, however delays were caused by a lack of manpower for the repairs, both at the Parks Department and with outside contractors. Immediately after Hurricane Fabian, the Minister and Parks Department director Candy Foggo explained the department had to restore other areas ? such as schools and Bermuda?s extensively damaged parks and beaches ? first.

?Our total manpower is responsible for the entire Island,? said Ms Foggo. ?We were not in a position to dedicate everything to the Botanical Gardens.?

?The department estimates that uninsured damage to beaches and parks is in the region of $1.2 million,? added the Minister. ?To meet the March deadline (for the exhibition), the department would have to commit significant resources to the Botanical Gardens at the expense of the public beaches and parks which would not be restored in time for the next tourism season.

?Even if it was feasible, it would be a waste of money to carry out ?quick fix? repairs just to meet the March deadline. It makes far more sense to apply the 2004/05 budget to a substantial, long-term rebuilding programme than to temporary measures to accommodate the exhibition.

?As I mentioned earlier, the Department of Parks has looked at all other potential venues. We are satisfied there is no other location with the buildings and grounds that could accommodate the exhibition and the equestrians in the short time allowed for preparing the April event.

?Any attempt to relocate the event would have meant a massive redirection of resources, personnel and money, away from the pressing work to be undertaken on Bermuda?s parks and beaches.?

Ms Foggo explained why the exhibition had not been delayed to give the Department time to restore the grounds.

?We were thinking of the exhibition in its entirety,? she said ? including the agricultural and horticultural products, which are seasonal.

?April is the time.?

?There is some good news to report,? the Minister added.

The Parks Department has contacted the Bermuda Equestrian Federation and the SPCA about the feasibility of holding a one-day event, she said.

?Unfortunately, the Equestrian Federation has decided not to host a one-day.

?The SPCA, I am pleased to say, has agreed to join with the Department to hold its annual expo on Saturday, April 24.

?The SPCA aims to present a ?country fair?, with activities, children?s events, crafts, an educational element and, we hope, a gymkhana. They are banking on the participation of several of Bermuda?s annual organisations.

?I would like to take this opportunity to thank the SPCA most sincerely for agreeing to host this community event,? the Minister said. ?It will, of course, be far smaller in scale than the Annual Exhibition.

?I, too, was looking forward (to the exhibition), as it would have been my first time as Minister hosting the event,? she admitted.

?But I want to dispel any rumours about the exhibition in 2005.

?I can assure you all that a bigger, better Annual Exhibition will be back in 2005 at the Botanical Gardens ? hurricanes permitting ? with a full slate of activities and events.?

The Annual Exhibition, formerly known as the Agricultural Exhibition (Ag Show), has been cancelled several times before ? once in the 1960s, once in the 1980s due to a labour dispute, and during the Second World War.