Shadow Housing Minister Wayne Furbert last week slammed Government for pinning its housing policy on Bermuda Homes for People (BHP) when "the project has been in trouble from day one".

Mr. Furbert also raised questions about the financial motivation of project backer Cliff Schorer and BHP project manager, John Gaston ? whom Mr.Furbert claimed left a lucrative job at Mr. Schorer's Wyndham Hotel (formerly the Sonesta Beach) to join the start-up "for a hefty fee".

"Government could not have been resting its entire housing plan on Bermuda Homes for People," Mr. Furbert said. "If Minister Ashfield DeVent had been issuing directives to the Bermuda Land Development Company (BLDC) to produce houses, I as a former Minister recognised very early that those committees serve at the pleasure of the Minister.

"So it's taken seven years for the Government to recognise their committee members are not working with the philosophy of what the Government is trying to accomplish?

"When you are the Government and the land belongs to the Government then something is totally wrong when you can't get something done.

"The bottom line is the will of the Government was not there to get it done. There are too many unanswered questions when it comes to Bermuda Homes for People. The Premier and the Minister should come out and say what really happened."

Mr. Furbert said that if the United Bermuda Party has been elected in 2003, it would have built homes on BLDC land in Tudor Hill, Southampton, "provided there were no environmental problems".

"Even today if we had won the election right now I would be up there with my shovel to start digging those holes," he promised. "The people want to have some comfort going forward."

Mr. Furbert was commenting after former Bermuda Homes for People executive John Gaston claimed the Bermuda Land Development Company had stalled the project by refusing to settle negotiations over the value of the land, which was BLDC property.

"What is the situation as we stand right now? He (Mr. Gaston) can talk his language as much as he wants and defend the Government because that is who he works for right now, but the project was in trouble from day one, which is why his boss Mr. Schorer disappeared.

"It was their idea for low-cost and high-cost properties. If they could not make it work why do you think anybody else is going to want to make it work?" Mr. Furbert asked.

Mr. Furbert also chastised Government's handling of the housing quangos, saying: "Government needs to understand the operation of all the quangos. The Bermuda Housing Corporation was formed to create housing.

"All the Government needs to do is find land from one of their quangos, turn it over to BHC and get some funding under their belts. Its no secret.

"We borrowed $80 million and we built homes up and down the Island and paid for the homes out of the proceeds or we sold some of them or people rented them.

"Government has failed in coming up with a housing policy by tying their full hope on this thing, where are they left?" he asked. "And what homes will be built in the next two to three years?

"BHC will tell you they have no homes, so where are the hopes of these people resting on? They are resting on a failed Government policy and that's the bottom line.

Mr. Furbert said he has "no problem sticking up for" the BLDC "for what it believes in but you have a Government who wants to accomplish something and BLDC want to accomplish something else, then put people in place that you want to get the job accomplished".

The United Bermuda Party call for the project to be built elsewhere has been vindicated, with the BLDC "saying the same thing" he said, adding: "At the end of the day if you want to accomplish something, the Minister appoints and can take out the whole Committee. Your price is only as high as your committee."

And he alleged that BHP was due profit by over $2 million on the Harbourside Village project.

Mr. Furbert said that BHP was not a non-profit organisation and were due to make a $2,158,000 surplus, however, in a BHP budget provided by Mr. Furbert, showed the money is listed to be used to fund a future project.

"He says the BLDC wanted to put exclusive homes there, well I saw the budget for that project and if I recall they were making $3 million profit also from the project and that's before Government gave them duty relief and other tax benefits.

"The benefits based on the numbers would have been much higher," he said. "They can call it non-profit as much as they want. He had money coming to him."

But a BHP budget stated the salary of its entire Development Management Team of 11 people was budgeted to cost $2,430,000 for 30 months work.

"John Gaston worked for the Ministry I understand and was working first up at Sonesta. He received a very hefty fee so I'm sure he is trying to protect his interest also.

"These are some of the concerns that we had about these large fees being paid out to consultants working with BHP," he said.

"Mr. Gaston and Mr. Schorer have sold the country a bill of goods and it has not paid off. A former civil servant left to go work for them so you can imagine what sort of salary he was getting," he said.