The credibility of claims regarding extensive faulty workmanship at the new Berkeley Institute have been called into question by the construction firm that employed alleged ?whistleblower? Gabriel Martel.

Five days after the story broke on the front page of the Mid-Ocean News, Somers Construction has cast doubt on the expertise of former site superintendent Mr. Martel and revealed a possible motive why he might have wanted to get back at the company for dismissing him.

In a report in last Friday?s edition of the weekly newspaper Mr. Martel was said to have catalogued faults at the $120 million secondary school project including poorly built walls, dangerous electrical work and compromised fire proofing.

But Somers Construction chief executive Michael Butt said yesterday that Mr. Martel had been employed last August and subsequently dismissed ?for his untruthful account of an incident on the Berkeley site involving damage to school property.?

He added: ?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. To the best of our knowledge he is not a professional engineer; he was not hired as stated to do an audit, nor was he hired as an inspector. He was only hired to supplement the other site superintendents on the project.?

Mr. Butt said the superintendents were tasked to prepare deficiency lists for all trades involved in the construction work so that these can be corrected prior to final payments being made to the contractors.

He went on to say that inspections by other authorities, including the Department of Planning and the Bermuda Fire Service have been carried out, and said: ?In the normal course of construction and when the deficiencies are corrected there will be further inspections carried out. Prior to final occupancy all of the independent consultants involved in the design will do their final inspections and certifications.?

The building is not expected to open as a school until September. According to the Mid-Ocean News, Mr. Martel is said to have prepared a report on the building in January before being dismissed from his job and returning to Ontario, Canada.

Continuing attempts by to locate the former site worker to substantiate the reported claims have so far proved unsuccessful.

Responding to the original story, Works and Engineering Minister Senator David Burch pledged on Sunday to give a ?full and frank explanation shortly? which he said would ?expose? Mr. Martel.

His UBP opposite number Jon Brunson, speaking before the latest revelations from Somers Construction were revealed, called on the Government to act swiftly to allay public concern about the safety of the building.

He said: ?These are serious allegations and this has to be dealt with immediately. There are too many factors that snowball out of this and we can?t afford to take any risks,? he said.

?Actions speak louder than words. Before the Minister makes a statement he has to prove it. One way to prove it is to make public the report that this fellow has done. That should be the first thing that is done.?

Mr. Brunson would like to see an independent investigation conducted to satisfy public safety concerns.