Government is to give the owners of the Fairmont Hamilton Princess $14.2 million in tax breaks — more than four times as much as had been granted by legislation passed just two weeks ago.The increase came about after the Green family, who bought the hotel last September and plan a $70 million renovation, pointed out that they had been promised larger concessions than the $3.3 million provided in the Hotels Concession (Fairmont Hamilton) Order 2013 linked to the hotel upgrade.Yesterday MPs approved an order to revise the legislation to give the Greens concessions worth $2.8 million annually for the next five years, totalling $14.2 million, linked to the value of the first phase of the construction work.Opposition MPs supported the revised order, but said Government incompetence was to blame for getting the earlier legislation wrong.Tourism Minister Shawn Crockwell said there had been misunderstanding between the developers and Government.With phase one of the hotel revamp due to start in November and the financing arrangements based on “receiving full uncapped relief benefits”, the Minister said it was prudent to “redress this anomaly” quickly.“Clearly there was a breakdown in communication,” Mr Crockwell said. “I accept responsibility for that, we are now here to rectify that and certainly I extend my apology to the House for having to go through a revised order.”Shadow Tourism Minister Wayne Furbert said: “The buck stops with the Minister and Cabinet.“There’s a vast difference between $3.3 million and $14.2 million, roughly a $11 million difference. That’s is not just an error, it shows a little incompetence and lack of experience within the Ministry, the Minster and a few other Ministers.“The Minister of Finance and the Attorney General should have caught this from the very beginning.“When the developers heard of the great error by the Government, we understand that the work stopped in certain locations at Hamilton Princess and Sonesta.” The site of the former Sonesta Beach Hotel was purchased by the Greens too.Independent MP Terry Lister said: “The most incompetent Minister in the world could have read the original two weeks ago before he brought it.“I would bet at least a new pair of shoes that his brief said $3.3 million. I’m concerned about how we’re going to balance this budget if we’re going to be giving taxes away every day.”At a time when the Government is asking employees to take a pay cut he said: “This makes no sense to me.“We’re taking one of our best employers, not letting them pay any tax for five years and then we’re going to the employees and saying we’re in a bad way. I know that a loaf of bread is almost $7 now but I want you take a 15 percent pay cut.”Pointing out that there are currently four lawyers in the Cabinet, Shadow Attorney General Kim Wilson asked: “I expect the lawyers for the Greens were itching their heads and saying what’s going on here? What kind of Mickey Mouse government are you running?’ Banana Republic. That’s what they would have said about it if we had been running Government.“The Attorney General is supposed to be a part of the process to make sure that whatever is decided in Cabinet is that which is reflected in the bill. I recognise that often times, if you snooze, you lose, but I don’t understand how this wasn’t picked up.”But Economic Development Minister Grant Gibbons hit back, pointing out that the former administration had been forced to make similar amendments.“We have had a number of questions and we probably asked them ourselves,” Dr Gibbons said.“But there is nothing nefarious — no conspiracy. This was a simple breakdown in communication between the Government and the developer — there’s nothing more to it than that. Human beings basically make errors.”Dr Gibbons also said that the purpose of the Act was to encourage development, and while that resulted in a loss of revenue for Government, there were also “offsets” which would benefit the entire Island.“There are issues called multiples and that makes it quite complex and therein lies the lack of communication between what was presented and what was understood by the developer,” the Minister said.Mr Crockwell refuted claims that he had tried to “ambush” the House, pointing out that he had informed the Opposition Whip of the amendment last Friday. The Minister concluded his comments by moving that the draft order be approved. There were no objections.