Concerns that those in charge of the National Sports Centre could leave themselves open to spiralling building costs and potentially damaging legal disputes because a contract for the work has not been executed are well on the way to being addressed, it has been claimed.

Dr. Gerard Bean, chairman of the Frog Lane Centre's Board of Trustees, was reacting to comments made by Auditor General Larry Dennis in his report released last week.

Dennis said in the 221-page dossier on the work of the office of the auditor general and the accounts of the Government of Bermuda that, although a contract had been drawn up in 1997 with regards to the construction of the multi-million dollar stadium, it had never been executed.

“In 1996 the Trustees engaged a firm of architects to consult on and design stadium facilities,” the report states. “A letter of intent was signed and a contract drawn up in 1997, but the contract was never executed.

“The firm of architects continues to provide services to the Centre. As a result, the Centre continues to pay for architectural services and to reimburse related expenses at rates not fixed by a contract.

“This reduces cost control and could leave the Centre in a weak position in any subsequent legal dispute.”

In response, Dennis writes that the Trustees were in agreement that a contract was needed but stated that they could not sign one until Government approved the whole project.

Speaking yesterday, Dr. Bean said he had not seen the report, but said the matters spoken of were in hand.

“I would say that that process is now ongoing and I would think that the matter would be resolved in the very near future,” he said. “Let's put it this way, there have been a number of submissions that have been made to the Attorney General. Things have been going backwards and forwards. Now I think . . . everyone is in agreement that a contract should be signed.”

Bean agreed that it was not satisfactory to be working with an unsigned contract, but felt there was a high degree of trust between the Trustees and the architects, Cannon Johnson.

“There is always a cause for concern,” he said. “But our understanding and our working relationship with Cannon Johnson has been very, very good, excellent, so we were not in quotes ‘concerned'.”

As for when the contract would be signed, Dr. Bean said he could not say.

“This is a matter which has to be done in unison with Government and I can't give a date,” he said.

The report also stated that annual reports, as required by legislation, had not been tabled in the House of Assembly.

Dennis recommended that the Trustees “ensure” that these reports were tabled, to which the chairman of Trustees responded that “reports for 2000, 2001 and 2002 were prepared and submitted to the Minister of Community Affairs, Youth and Sport who has the responsibility to table them as required by law”.