Police yesterday poured cold water on claims by the Opposition party that Government has been attempting to delay its investigation into the Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC) scandal.

But the United Bermuda Party (UBP) was sticking to its story last night - while hinting that its concerns may have more to do with Government's control of the probe's purse strings.

A carefully worded two-page statement released yesterday by the Police Service says that, by law, the Service is operationally independent, and that given the nature of the investigation it was not taking too long.

Control of the Service and its investigations, including resource allocations, are a matter for the senior officers and not subject to external influence.

"The timing in the pursuit of these lines of enquiry is entirely a matter for the Bermuda Police Service," the statement adds.

Asked for further clarification, Commissioner Jonathan Smith referred this newspaper to a report in a January edition of The Mid-Ocean News, in which he said that there had been no attempt to influence the investigation and that he would report it to the Governor if there had been.

"If there was an allegation of political influence in any investigation, or more particularly, the BHC investigation, I would be duty bound to report that immediately to the Governor of the country," he said then.

"I am satisfied that our investigators are working extremely diligently. They continue to collect the evidence they need to and interview the people they need to in accordance with the law. And I can say I have not been to Government House to report any interference with the BHC investigation. I think it's very important to separate where there might be a political interest from political influence. I would report that - I have not done so."

Commissioner Smith said last night that those comments still stand.

Last week, Opposition MP Michael Dunkley, who first alerted the public to a mismanagement and corruption scandal at BHC, called a press conference to say that "individuals within the Smith Government had decided to frustrate and delay the investigation" until long after the coming election.

He would not substantiate his allegations or say how he came to his conclusions. "I cannot believe that the Bermuda Police Service whom I know and respect would have taken this long to get to the bottom of things unless they were being handicapped," he said.

Yesterday's press statement said, however, that the investigation was a complex one involving "multiple business transactions and numerous people over an extended period of time" and that a visit from members of the UK's Metropolitan Police last year had been "timely and helpful".

"We do not consider the amount of time to conduct this investigation to be extraordinarily long and we remain committed to conducting a thorough and independent investigation."

The statement noted that the investigation had broadened since the Police Commissioner's last progress report in September last year.

"Arrests have been made in connection with this investigation and many interviews have been conducted. Approximately four dozen search warrants have been exhausted and tens of thousands of documentary exhibits have been seized. Further arrests and interviews are anticipated."

Government has refused to respond to the UBP's allegations.

On Friday Mr. Dunkley told this newspaper that he had been aware of the alleged interference for months but he had not reported his concerns to the Governor.

"He can talk to the Police Commissioner... I'm sure he (the Governor) is well aware of things." And he did not bring up the matter during the motion to adjourn because "I think we've said enough."

Last night Mr. Dunkley said: "Of course our statement still stands. The Police seem to be hamstrung with this investigation whether it's the enormous complex nature of the case and the amount of investigation that has to go on. And my understanding is that there is a very small number of people working on this case and if they are hamstrung by a staffing issue we would support getting it resolved as quickly as we can."

Mr. Smith said that there were seven officers working on the investigation, but he would not say whether he had requested additional resources from Government.

"I'm not going to comment other than I meet with my senior staff including the investigators and that is one of the issues which is constantly being assessed," he said.

Asked if he was backing down from the interference allegations, Mr. Dunkley said: "All I'm saying is that in any investigation there are individuals who don't cooperate with the investigation and I'm sure this is happening in this case. Our sole cause in this case is to bring it to a conclusion so that justice is done and business can continue." He said he would be making further comments on his allegations of governmental interference at another time.