A former top Civil Servant this week accused Government of cheating him out of $10,000 in pension contributions.

Ex-Works and Engineering Chief Surveyor Nick Lonsdale said: "As far as I'm concerned, they still owe me the money.'' Mr. Lonsdale quit in 1994 a little over two years into his contract after personality clashes with controversial Ministry Permanent Secretary Stanley Oliver.

The UK-born surveyor said he had been told if he had gone to another job immediately he would have got his cash.

He added: "To me, they have stolen the money -- if I'd gone straight back into a job, they would have had to pay it to me.'' Mr. Lonsdale, 54, now living in Vancouver, Canada, said he got back his own contributions to Government's superannuation scheme, but did not get the Government matching half of the pot.

But he added others he knew of who had retired and had private pension schemes had had the money paid into them.

Mr. Lonsdale said: "They told me that, because I didn't have a pension plan to pay it into, I couldn't get it.'' Mr. Lonsdale claimed that Government had kept quiet about a clause in the superannuation regulations which made it possible to get Government contributions paid into a private pension fund.

He said: "When I worked in Bermuda, I tried to have my superannuation transferred to the UK. A couple of other people did get theirs done, but they denied me. And I've since heard of several people who did not get their money back, although they should have.'' Mr. Lonsdale said he put the matter in the hands of his English solicitor -- but he was told that it would cost more in legal fees to win the battle than he would get back.'' He added: "If they had said they wanted to pay it into an annuity which I couldn't touch until I was 65, fair enough -- but they aren't going to do that.'' Mr. Lonsdale hit the headlines earlier this year after he publicly backed Bermudian-born surveyor Valerie Wallace, who claimed discrimination by Works and Engineering Permanent Secretary Stanley Oliver after her bid to succeed Mr. Lonsdale failed.

A further application earlier this year -- which would have made Ms Wallace the first Bermudian Chief Surveyor -- was also knocked back.

Ms Wallace -- who was also supported by her professional body, the Bermuda Association of Surveyors and the UK Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors -- later left the Civil Service to work for the Bermuda Land Development Corporation.

Mr. Lonsdale said that he would probably have completed six years in Bermuda -- but that working with Mr. Oliver drove him out of the job.

He said: "I was hired to look after Government's estates and I couldn't do the job because he knew more than I did -- or thought he did.

"There was constant interference by someone who didn't know what he was doing.

"He cost me thousands of dollars in that I left early and had to pay my own way.''