Coco Reef Resort has received a 70-year extension on its lease.

Government Senator Walton Brown, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Bermuda College, told The Royal Gazette yesterday that the lease had been extended from 50 years to 120 years.

Shadow Education Minister Grant Gibbons called the extension "shameful" and said the full lease should be tabled in the House of Assembly.

As well as lengthening the lease the negotiations ensured the college is no longer responsible for paying portions of the hotel's insurance and altered other aspects of the original 2003 lease. The Royal Gazette did not see a copy of the new lease but Sen. Brown outlined several changes.

Last week John Jefferis, who owns Coco Reef, denied claims that he signed a sweetheart deal with the Government in 2003 and said he was saving Government up to $1 million a year because the hotel used to run at a serious loss.

Mr.Jefferis was awarded the lease for the former Stonington Beach Hotel after it was offered for tender. But after winning the tender, he was able to rengotiate the terms he had offered. The new lease Mr. Jefferis signed with the Bermuda College more than doubled the length of the previous offer from 21 years to 50 years. It also reduced the amount of rent to Government, added a 1.9-acre plot of oceanfront land and gave permission to build condominiums for sale.

A 2004 Auditor General's report recommended it should be re-tendered because it was "considerably more beneficial" to (Mr. Jefferis) than the tender document specified".

Yesterday, Sen. Brown told The Royal Gazette that the new lease, signed late last year, ensured that the College retained ownership of all the property.

And he added: "Not one square metre has been given in freehold. We retain the ownership of the land."

He added: "The lease was extended to a total of 120 years and that was done to ensure that the lease back units could be sold. No one was going to purchase a unit for the 43 years remaining."

Mr. Jefferis plans to break ground on 66 leaseback villas this year. Visitors and exempted companies will own the units and will be required to lease it back to the hotel for six months of the year for the first five years. The owners will choose the months and will split any profits made from the leaseback with the hotel.

In the renegotiated lease the Bermuda College is no longer responsible for the insurance of the hotel's contents or the insurance of the foreshore. This saved taxpayers between $50,000 and $100,000, Sen. Brown said.

The new lease has also put in place a dispute resolution mechanism, which requires Coco Reef and the Bermuda College to enter into binding arbitration if a dispute arises.

Speaking of the negotiations, Sen. Brown said: "As Chairman of the Board it is my role to ensure we have a good working relationship with Coco Reef but also to ensure the taxpayers interests are addressed."

Last night Dr. Gibbons said he was astounded that the original lease required the College to pay portions of the hotel's insurance for the past seven years.

He said: "This just proves the original lease was rushed through before the 2003 election and not approved or reviewed by the full Bermuda College Board or the Attorney General's Chambers at the time.

"Extending this lease to 120 years is, I think, shameful. This is public property and it has sold out public property for another four to five generations. It was originally acquired for education.

"Morally the Progressive Labour Party should have tabled this extension. At this point the PLP should come clean and table it in the House of Assembly, which starts next week."

In February Dr. Gibbons tabled questions in the House of Assembly in February asking if the lease had been renegotiated and what the terms were.

At the time he was told it did not fall under Parliamentary scrutiny because the Board of Governors owns the property and may lease all or part of its property without consulting Parliament.