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Mr. Martel, who was hired by Somers Construction to work at the scandal-ridden Berkeley senior school project, was dismissed from his post in controversial circumstances last month.

After returning home to Canada the veteran construction expert ? who carried out a lengthy inspection of the nearly-completed school prior to his dismissal ? exposed a catalogue of faults with the public project.

Labelling the flagship school a potential death trap, Mr. Martel claimed parts of the structure could be susceptible to collapse while badly installed wiring meant the building was riddled with possibly lethal electrical faults.

But a week after his findings were reported in the , Somers Construction hit back. In a statement released to the media, company CEO Michael Butt said: "Somers Construction terminated Mr. Martel's employment for his untruthful account of an incident on the Berkeley site involving damage to school property.

"He is in our view a disgruntled ex-employee upset at being caught in an untruth resulting in his dismissal. It is unfortunate that Mr. Martel has chosen to air his grievances in this way."

The statement, which was later published in as a Letter to the Editor, went on to say that Mr. Martel "was not a professional engineer; he was not hired as stated to do an audit, nor was he hired as an inspector, again he was only hired to supplement the other site superintendents on the Berkeley project".

Now Mr. Martel is threatening to take his ex-boss to court in Canada, unless he receives a public retraction. He says he can fight any legal battle there because Mr. Butt's comments were posted on the web site of both this newspaper and , and so are available in Canada.

In a letter addressed to Mr. Butt's Ontario offices this week, Mr. Martel wrote: "Please find enclosed copies of your letter to for publication in Bermuda and available in both hard copy and online in Canada. Also included are the published statements of the only witnesses to the events you described in your letter.

"You had no legal reason to have slandered my name. You attacked me in public on a point that you were not a witness to nor did you have any direct knowledge of. You simply used rumours to your advantage without consideration for my reputation or integrity.

"Therefore please be advised that you have five working days to publish a full retraction of your letter and full apology to me personally in both and the . Failure to so so will result in litigation to be commenced in Canada against you personally for libel."

Mr. Martel has always insisted that he was fired after repeatedly complaining about the quality of work of electrical contractor Telford Electric.

He said his sacking was instigated by Tim Telford after the whistle-blower demanded light fittings installed by the electrician be tested. Mr. Martel raised the alarm about the potentially hazardous fixtures after one of them came crashing down from its mounting, narrowly missing a worker below.

But at a subsequent meeting to discuss the accident, Mr. Martel was dismissed because his version of the event did not match surveillance camera footage.

Mr. Martel has since explained why his version of the accident was different ? he witnessed it from the opposite side of the room to the camera.

And he said he was told by senior Somers staff that the company had been pressured into removing him from the site by the Ministry of Works & Engineering. According to Mr. Martel, Somers general superintendent Mark Butt informed him that the Ministry had threatened to withhold future projects from the company unless it released the Canadian guest worker.

Last week two other workers still at the site backed up Mr. Martel's claims, arguing that the project still contains hundreds of hazards as a result of rushed and shoddy workmanship.

The two workers also witnessed the accident and said Mr. Martel's version was correct.

And they said authorities were looking for an excuse to sack Mr. Martel because he was "doing his job too well" ? highlighting errors that under-pressure officials preferred to ignore.

Works & Engineering Minister David Burch has since confirmed it was his department which "asked that he be removed" from the site because of his "misrepresentation" of events, even though Mr. Martel was employed by Somers Construction, not Government.

The Minister has refused to give additional information on the alleged misrepresentation, why it resulted in Mr. Martel's dismissal, or who in the Ministry requested the dismissal.

The Minister has also failed to detail why Telford Electric, the company at the centre of Mr. Martel's concerns, is being paid directly by the Ministry for its work on the site or who was responsible for hiring the electrician. All other contractors submit invoices through Somers Construction, which was appointed general contractor by Government.

Works & Engineering Permanent Secretary Derrick Binns last night did respond to a list of questions put to him by this newspaper earlier this week.

Dr. Binns said: "The Ministry has provided regular updates and information on the Berkeley project. The information already provided stands.

And as of press time last night, both Michael and Mark Butt failed to answer telephone calls from this newspaper.