A stop order has been placed on demolition work at the former Club Med after asbestos was disturbed.

The site was being cleared to make way for a new five-star hotel development.

One hustle truck worker rang The Royal Gazette with fears that he and his workmates might have been exposed to danger.

He said: "Everybody is worried, there are girls who have children who were working down there.

"There was a lot of asbestos, they shut it down yesterday." He said workers suspected it could have been asbestos during demolition. But although some workers were given protective face masks no one was given body suits and there was no one to ensure everybody wore the masks.

"There should have been someone there who knows what they are doing." Last night Works and Engineering Ministry said the asbestos had been accidentally disturbed before a professional abatement crew was hired. And it is still unclear what level of risk the workers had been exposed to.

The Ministry said a request for proposal for asbestos remediation had been put out with careful guidelines on how it should be done.

Three weeks ago the removal of an enormous amount of furniture, carpeting and other loose debris from the main Club Med building started.

The statement went on: "The services of a local company were engaged to oversee this process, with the Highways Road Cleaning Crew of the Ministry of Works and Engineering, workers from the Hustle Truck initiative and a crew from Landmark Construction carrying out the actual work. The work of these teams was scheduled to end on March 12."

However Government said on Wednesday afternoon it got reports that material containing asbestos might have been inadvertently disturbed by the crew engaged in the removal of the loose fittings.

The next day an independent expert visited the site to check the air quality with Ministry of Health representatives in attendance.

"It was immediately clear that asbestos containing material had been disturbed and the decision was taken to recommend a stop order on the work being carried out."

The stop order was issued by the Ministry of Health on Thursday afternoon.

The statement added: "There will be no further activity at the site until the contract for asbestos remediation has been awarded and the services of certified and experienced asbestos removers engaged to carry out the work.

"In the meantime, all debris outside the building has been secured in accordance with safety regulations and the site itself secured to prevent unauthorised access."

Minister of Works and Engineering Derrick Burgess said last night: "Nothing is more important than the health and safety of our workers. You may be assured that work at the former Club Med site will not be re-started until the most stringent health and safety measures are in place. In fact, the highest standards of heath and safety have always been our expectation."

Shadow Works and Engineering Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin said: "We would be extremely concerned if the hustle truck workers have been exposed to asbestos while removing the contaminated material from the Club Med site.

"If indeed there has been a stop order to ensure no further exposure occurs, it is the correct thing to do."

She said Government had been aware of asbestos content in the Club Med site, as they indicated that the failure to complete the demolition by December 31, 2007 as they promised was due to the need to have the asbestos properly abated.

"They ought to have been aware of the dangers of exposure to asbestos, and the attendant health risks posed to uncertified workers.

"Asbestos abatement is a specialised area, and the possibility of exposing workers to friable particles which can lead to fatal mesothelioma or black lung disease, is tantamount to criminal negligence."

There was $1 million in supplementary expenditure that was approved by the House earlier this week for asbestos removal at Club Med, said Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin.

"Surely this amount of money must have included the proper disposal?"

She said Department of Health regulations required that the hazardous material be double-wrapped in plastic and stored in a container which itself has been double-lined with plastic and that handling of such material can only be undertaken by properly qualified and currently certified asbestos abatement workers.

It is the second time this week that a stop order has been issued.

On Tuesday Environment Minister Elvin James had to intervene after a contractor began improvement works at the Sea Breeze Oval in Bailey's Bay, which is owned by the Government and leased to the Bailey's Bay Cricket Club.

A Government spokesman said the contractor had been under the impression that planning permission was not required for the proposed development but once Minister James learned of the extent of the development he stopped the work.

Developers have been told to submit an application to the Department of Planning.

The works at the Sea Breeze Oval are intended to extend the edge of the playing field approximately 15 feet to the point where previously reclaimed land has been eroded.