No more taxpayers' cash will be spent on repairs to the National Sports Centre running track -- because trustees have secured a five-year guarantee.

Sports Minister John Barritt condemned comments from his opposite number in Parliament that the current $650,000 project to re-lay the surface might be another waste of public money.

Shadow Sports Minister Nelson Bascome had demanded to know if Government obtained a guarantee to avoid spending more cash on the athletics surface.

He also said the concrete base underneath the track should have been replaced too, because experts blamed it for poor drainage, blistering and bubbling on the surface.

But Mr. Barritt told The Royal Gazette that Baltimore-based DD Martin Surfacing, now laying the new track, had agreed to a five-year guarantee. And he said the firm had recently laid the same surface at the World Goodwill Games in New York City, where several new records have been set.

"At the request of the Board of Trustees of the National Sports Centre, a five-year bonded warranty on the new surface was included in the contract terms,'' said Mr. Barritt.

"The bonded warranty ensures the financial protection of the Board of Trustees even if the surfacing company ceases operations.'' He also said samples of the concrete base had been sent abroad as part of "exhaustive testing'' by independent analysts.

He added: "The test results reveal that the concrete base did not contribute to the track blistering problems. Independent overseas authorities have verified that the track concrete base is a structurally sound surface, well capable of being used as a track base.'' An asphalt base would not have proved any more effective, added the Minister.

And he said the now-bust firm which laid the original track had not allowed sufficient drying time after rain showers during the initial installation.

The re-laid track, Bermuda's only synthetic 400-metre surface, will not be ready until the end of August at the earliest.

The track first started to bubble back in 1996 and parts of the surface have already had to be ripped up twice. And the latest work has forced dozens of athletes to switch their training schedules to the grass track at Spice Valley Middle School.

Mr. Bascome had accused trustees of "cutting corners'' by not laying a new asphalt base, recommended by local experts and some officials at the Bermuda Track and Field Association.

But trustees chairman Donald Lines said taxpayers had been saved $600,000 and a two-year delay had been avoided by keeping the concrete base.

He also said Mr. Bascome had not attended several meetings arranged by the trustees and the Progressive Labour Party said they were "extremely busy'' when trustees offered to make a presentation to their caucus.

Mr. Lines added: "The trustees would publicly invite Mr. Bascome and all or any of his colleagues to meet with us so that we can explain in detail the direction which the National Centre is taking, and lay his perceived fears to rest.''