PRIME MINISTER DAVID THOMPSON says his Government's pre-election pledge of integrity legislation and a declaration of assets by MPs might have been "ambitious".

But he told the House of Assembly last night during the wrap-up of the three-day debate on the 2008 Financial Statement and Budgetary Proposals that proper procedures would be put in place for the scrutiny and investigation of such assets.

The Prime Minister was responding to the surprise declaration of assets by Leader of the Opposition Mia Mottley last Tuesday night in which she disclosed assets of $3.5 million.

"But that isn't all," Thompson suggested, "that is just the tip of the iceberg."

He added that transparent procedures would be set in train to ensure that the Governor-General would not be subjected to any "rum shop" type of document preparation.

The Prime Minister acknowledged that Barbados had followed a model of assets declaration legislation used in a country – which he did not name – but which had caused problems in that country that would now have to repeal the legislation.

"That is the genuine reason," he added, in explaining the background to the delay in introducing the integrity legislation. "We have nothing to hide."

Thompson stressed that his new Administration would not follow the path of the previous Government, and in the six months it had been in office, it had not given out any new contracts for any major public works.

He said the first and only such contracts had been put out to tender in the newspapers in the past week for units for the National Housing Corporation (NHC) in Marchfield, St Philip; Greens, St George; and Four Hill and French Village in St Peter on which work was scheduled to begin on August 1.

Thompson added there had not been any major Town Planning decisions, but his Government was going to find transparent ways of moving forward.

Responding to a charge by former Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Owen Arthur that the 2008 Budget did not contain a "Financial Statement", Thompson submitted that the rules did not require such.

The Prime Minister also said he would eschew a trend of the past where the wrap-up was used in a controversial manner, but he thanked people whom he said had given him information during the day such as files, copies of cheques and conveyances, among other things.

He indicated that he would take comfort from the title of an analysis of the budgetary proposals by the international accounting firm, Pricewaterhousecoopers entitled Our Brother's Keeper.

That was a compliment, he added, because there had been a debate in which serious allegations were made by persons whom he said had an "accounting mentality". (AB)