Public Works Minister Trevor Moniz has hit back at allegations that he used “smoke screen tactics” to cover up the fact that upgrade work to Heritage Wharf was not completed in time for the arrival of the mega-cruise ship Breakaway earlier this month.And he has insisted that “the works that needed to be completed were completed” by the May 15 deadline — despite the fact that Breakaway had to use pre-existing moorings during her three-day stay and contingency plans were put in place in case the liner slipped from her moorings.But the statement has prompted further criticism from the Progressive Labour Party, which last night mocked the Minister for “putting his foot in his mouth” and issuing a press release that “raises more questions about the openness and transparency of the OBA”.The opposition had earlier accused Mr Moniz of “misleading the public and the world” for failing to disclose the fact that parts of the old wharf were used for Breakaway. Work on new, stronger moorings got underway earlier this year after reports showed the old moorings were not strong enough to hold mega-ships. Throughout the upgrade process, Government maintained that, despite the tight deadline, it was hopeful it would get all the essential components of the revamp completed by May 15.“I was quite disturbed to see the article in today’s daily regarding Heritage Wharf — the source quoted and the article itself present a misleading picture,” Mr Moniz said in a statement last night.“I was indeed hopeful all works would be completed on time for the arrival of the Breakaway but, unfortunately, as I have explained in previous releases — as early as April 5 — we stressed that there were experiencing challenging weather conditions that would limit the number of days we could operate on the water.”Mr Moniz added that a great deal of work was achieved and that the work was of a high quality.“The works that needed to be completed were completed, and ultimately we achieved the goal of being ready to receive the Breakaway. The question frequently asked was ‘Will the Breakaway be able to dock?’ and clearly she was.”In his statement, Mr Moniz made no reference to the fact that Government was forced to put together a contingency plan with Breakaway’s owners, Norwegian Cruise Lines, in order to allow the ship to stay at Dockyard.Instead, he said: “We have been completely transparent throughout, issuing weekly progress reports via press release in the weeks leading up to the arrival of the Breakaway.In his final progress report issued on May 12, Mr Moniz said: “The workers have been making every effort, going the extra mile to ensure the Heritage Wharf project is completed on schedule by Wednesday, May 15.”He added that the final pour of concrete for the southern dolphin would start the following day and be completed by Breakaway’s arrival.“After the Breakaway’s first visit is completed we will remove all of our temporary works from the main wharf area and move on to construction of the mooring dolphins,” Mr Moniz had said.“These dolphins are not as critical as the breasting dolphins and because they do not rest against the hull of the ship we are able to construct them during the cruise ship season.Last night Derrick Burgess, the shadow Public Works Minister, accused Government of being disingenuous.“The OBA failed to complete the moorings for use by the deadline, while giving the impression that all was in order,” Mr Burgess said. “In fact, the Minister claimed on May 15 that the dolphin mooring was not critical, yet that same ‘non-critical’ mooring is the one that is essential for the safe and secure docking of ships.”Mr Burgess also pointed out what he saw as contradictions in Mr Moniz’s statements.“The Minister continues to blame the weather for their failure to make their deadline saying, ‘ ... we faced many challenges such as weather and the loss of one of our cranes’, and ‘to make up for lost time our personnel have worked around the clock, working into the night and sometimes through the night’.“Did the weather cause work to stop or did the workers work through the night? The Minister can’t have it both ways.”Mr Burgess also asked why Government was unable to use local equipment and labour on the project.“After all, it has already been shown that the correct equipment and labour was available here, on Island,” he said. “The OBA promised that 75 percent of the workers on site would be Bermudian, yet they still have not disclosed the number of locals employed on the site.”The Royal Gazette e-mailed questions to the Ministry last night seeking clarification on several issues. This newspaper asked which components of the new wharf were completed and ready for use by Breakaway on the day of her arrival, if any of those new moorings were actually used, and if so, were they strong enough on their own to keep Breakaway moored at Heritage Wharf.We further asked if any of the old moorings were used by Breakaway moored at the wharf and why Government felt it necessary to implement contingency plans to keep Breakaway at Heritage Wharf. No response to our questions was received by Press time last night.