Perot 'blasted reef'

NEW YORK (Reuter) - The undeclared US presidential candidate, Ross Perot, had part of a Bermuda coral reef blown up in 1986 to dock his yacht at his vacation home, Time magazine reported yesterday. Time said that Bermuda's Department of the Environment had ruled against Perot's request to dredge Castle Harbour in front of his house because the area was protected by environmental laws.

'Faced with that denial,' the magazine adds, 'Perot's contractors realised that any similar request for permission to cut a channel in a nearby coral reef would probably be nixed as well. A week later, without filing for a permit, Perot's construction team blew a section of the reef near his house.' The Bermuda government decided the damage was not great and eventually issued Perot a retroactive permit for the dredging 'on the understanding that Perot would not do any more unauthorised blasting', the magazine said.