Tempers were as high as the temperature on the grounds of Cabinet Building yesterday following Works Minister Ashfield DeVent?s press conference on the termination of ProActive Management System?s contract to build the new Senior Secondary School.

A group of about two dozen angry ProActive workers had assembled outside the building to vent their frustration before the press conference began.

Cabinet?s front door was locked when arrived in time for the conference and this reporter was ushered in through the back door.

The workers held court with the press when it was over to elaborate on their grievances with Government.

Chief among them was the sentiment that their interests were not considered when the termination decision was made.

News of Government?s talks with Somers Construction which is widely expected to take over the contract is another source of worry for the workers.

Dexter Fubler who led the delegation explained that the company was a management company which employed subcontractors and its practices would mean that the workers would be working for substandard wages, should they agree to work for them.

?If we do go work for Somers that means we would have to end up taking a cut in wages ? which means a below cost of living salaries. Nobody?s stopped to listen to that fact,? Mr. Fubler said.

?I worked for that same company one time. That same company would pay their foreign workers time and a half and the local workers straight time. They wouldn?t ask you if you want time and a half ? they?re telling what you?re getting.

?They dictate to you what they are going to do and what they are not going to do. And they are asking you to jump from the frying pan into the fire.?

Asked if they would refuse to work on the site if Somers is confirmed as the new contractor, Mr. Fubler said: ?I would say this much ? if Somers takes over that contract... then there will be a lot to answer for. A lot to answer for.?

?They?ve got to reinstate ProActive,? one woman shouted.

Mr. Fubler said that reports done on the school had confirmed that the work done was of top quality.

Mr. DeVent emerged from the building and asked to speak with Mr. Fubler. With Acting Attorney General Michael Scott by his side, Mr. DeVent was confronted by Mr. Fubler who demanded to know why the workers were given no explanation and no notice when the contract was terminated. Deputy Premier Ewart Brown was seen leaving the building but stood at a distance watching events unfold.

Premier Alex Scott was nowhere to be seen.

?The Government collectively decided that ProActive wasn?t completing it on time and we had to finish it,? the Minister replied.

?And we?ve made every effort to pay everyone that?s worked for ProActive, the moneys been paid and we are going to make every effort to make sure that every one who was on the site can get back to work.?

That answer was inadequate for Mr. Fubler who explained that no decent employer would terminate someone with no notice and that they had heard it on the news that they had been fired.

?Some of us had a half a paycheque. Some of them ? the subcontractors who are workers as well, even though they are not unionised ? have not been paid at all,? he continued.

?You can?t just say I?m going to put a shoe on one of the horse?s foot but I?m not going to put it on the other one. And say I?m still going to ride that horse.?

Mr. DeVent told the workers that Government had contacted the union and ProActive about the situation and that they knew that there was a possibility that the company?s contract would end.

Mr. Fubler then voiced his concerns about Somers Construction and questioned why Government would want to do business with a company which had ?disrespected? Government by not building a hotel at the Palmetto Bay development in Flatts.

?So how do we know that when you bring them in, they are not going to disrespect the rest of the workers like they have been doing all these years. And that will happen because they do not listen to what you have to say, because if they do they would have that hotel done.?

Mr. Fubler told the Minister that Government had abandoned ProActive by not denying allegations that the company had mismanaged funds.

?All this time this country has been under the impression that ProActive has been stealing, doing a whole lot of things and without the Ministry confirming or denying this fact... So right now today the workers are left without a job. Monday morning I have got to find where I?m going to get the money to do what I have to do.?

?We had to protect the site. If somebody went there and took your tools, we would be responsible,? the Minister said when Mr. Fubler asked why the Police was involved.

But Mr. Fubler said that the site had security from the beginning.

?We did not know what kind of human emotion we were going to find. So, of course, you?re upset. This is not a decision that I took easily, not at all. But at the end of the day I?m still responsible for the taxpayer ? your money as well.?

?So you see that we have more at risk up there than just our jobs. We go through that on a daily basis even with ProActive. And now we are asking you why have we been let go without any notice,? Mr. Fubler said.

?ProActive has been let go,? the Minister replied.

?We are ProActive!? was Mr. Fubler?s response.

Acting Attorney General Scott stepped in to calm the waters and told Mr. Fubler that the situation had become ?untenable?.

?There had to be accountability to the pubic purse,? he said. And he promised to take the concerns about Somers into account.

?Each of you who have now been disrupted in your work have to appreciate you are in a most unusual situation and we have to go forward together,? Mr. Scott said.

?Do not use the words go forward together. I?m going backwards. I don?t have a paycheque next week. However I am paying you and you... when you receive your salaries.?