THE States were in disarray this morning after a dramatic 24 hours in the Esplanade development fiasco.

Senator Jim Perchard resigned from the Waterfront Enterprise Board this morning after learning that WEB chairman Gerald Voisin is also on a subsidiary board of AIB, the bank behind developers Harcourt.

Today, Senator Stuart Syvret said that he would be bringing a vote of no confidence in the Council of Ministers. He has described the whole affair as ‘complete chaos’.

Meanwhile, a group of States Members have formally asked for the entire Waterfront debate to be brought back to the House so that it can be debated again following reports of the lawsuit.

Deputy Gerard Baudains – the first Member to raise the issue of the Las Vegas lawsuit against Harcourt in the States last week – has the backing of Deputies Bob Hill, Alan Breckon, Roy Le Hérissier and Geoff Southern, who are all asking for the States to debate the matter again.

‘We cannot responsibly proceed with this project until all these questions have been adequately answered,’ he said.

‘We must therefore rescind our decision, and allow the Council of Ministers to bring forward a fresh projet that lists alternatives (or explain why there aren’t any) and is accompanied by full and accurate information regarding the way the Waterfront development is to be achieved.’

Yesterday Deputy Chief Minister Terry Le Sueur faced a barrage of questions in the States about the revelations. He was standing in for Chief Minister Frank Walker, who is holidaying in Bermuda this week.

Senator Le Sueur told Members that the Council of Ministers would share further ‘due diligence’ reports on Harcourt before the final agreement for them to begin work was signed.

‘WEB has agreed they will undertake another due diligence report which will be shared with the Chief Minister and the Treasury Minister,’ he said.

‘We will provide it to all States Members before any legally binding development agreement is signed. That will allow all of us to be satisfied and to ensure the public interest is properly safeguarded.’