The $70 million Berkeley Institute contract could see Bermudians being trained in the latest construction technology, one of the favoured bidders has claimed.

David Lubben, president of the Florida-based HR Lubben Group which is associated with favoured bidder Pro-Active Management Systems Ltd., said if they won the contract, their aim would be to get as many local workers on board as possible.

He said the role of his company would be to oversee certain aspects of the mammoth 27-month project, but said that would only entail two or three site superintendents coming to the Island from the US.

He said another role for the group would be to bring in materials and the latest construction technology.

He said other sub-contracting firms would be used but the aim was to draw the majority of the workforce from Bermuda.

"We have developed a fast track construction system and we are going to be training local people on how to utilise that system,'' said Mr. Lubben.

"Our role will primarily be consultants. We will be involved with the various trades and tradesmen.

"We will be involved in the expediting of the materials, and overseeing different parts of the project.

"There will be logistical situations that we will have a lot of expertise in and that we can train in.'' Works and Engineering Minister Alex Scott told The Royal Gazette that a decision has already been taken as to which of the five bidders will be awarded the contract.

The bidders were BermudaTech, Pro-Active, BCM McAlpine, Somers Construction and Tri-Star Ltd.

The two favoured bids are from Pro-Active and BermudaTech, however, Mr. Scott would not reveal which developer will be taking charge of the job.

All he would say is that an announcement will be made by the end of next week.

But he said one of the five bidders was "more local'' than the others.

And he added: "We have been saying that we want to maximise the use of Bermudians and what was meant by that was from the very top to the very bottom.'' That, he said, was the only clue he would give as to who was to be awarded the contract.

Much controversy has surrounded the Berkeley contract during the last two months.

Mr. Scott was hit with a barrage of criticism after he revealed Government would be using $250,000 of tax payers money as an incentive to the contractors. For every Bermudian they hire, they will be paid a cash bonus.

He said the aim was to get more Bermudians involved in the industry, particularly teenagers preparing to leave school, and, as a result, said the two favoured bidders had offered to spend that money on training.

Berkeley decision made But last week, The Mid-Ocean News reported there was a Cabinet rift over the awarding of the contract because some Ministers wanted to go with the lowest bidder, BermudaTech.

It was claimed that Pro-Active's bid was about $5 million higher.

And it alleged that an enormous amount of pressure had been put on Government to select the second lowest bidder because the principals of Pro-Active had strong ties with the Progressive Labour Party.

Mr. Scott denied there was any rift over the decision.

He added: "There is no division in Cabinet on this. A decision has been made, but it is subject to several things being confirmed.'' Pro-Active, which is run by president and general manager Arthur Ebbin Jr., has repeatedly refused to talk to the Press in the last fortnight.

But a staff member there this week said they were not obliged to give any details about board members or directors to the public because it was a private company.

And how much experience and expertise they have in completing projects as big as this one is not publicly known.

However, HR Lubben and Pro-Active have worked together on the Island before constructing apartments.

But whether or not HR Lubben has previous experience in building schools, or massive developments worth $70 million, is also not known.

The HR Lubben website shows three apartment complexes that have been built by the firm but nothing else.

Yesterday, Mr. Lubben said the company had vast experience in jobs such as this one. And he said the group also sent staff to the Caribbean and South America to teach workmen how to use their technology and systems.

He added: "We have done a number of jobs around the world like this. There is a 27-month construction period but hopefully we will be able to reduce that.

"We have not heard whether we have been successful yet. We are hopeful. It has been going on for quite a while so we are hoping to hear within the next few days.'' Mr. Scott said each of the five bidders had met the requirements.

He added: "All of them have demonstrated to us that they have the experience for this.

"All of the principals that came to us (from the companies), through their experience, were able to articulate the responses that we needed.''