And Shadow Education Minister Neville Darrell claimed last night that the current crisis at the school could have been averted had warning signs been heeded.

On Wednesday night, Government was forced to shut down the facility after it was discovered that a potentially fatal mould spore may be the cause of a spate of respiratory illnesses amongst students and teachers.

The school is now off-limits indefinitely while health officials carry out an inspection of the complex.

Last night Mr. Darrell said he was "angered and horrified" when he first heard news of the outbreak, and that the crisis could have been averted had Government taken initial concerns more seriously.

He said he first spoke to then-Education Minister Terry Lister last summer after being approached by a teacher concerned about air quality at the facility.

"I became aware of the issue last summer, before the summer break," Mr. Darrell said.

"I mentioned it to Minister Lister in the House of Assembly and he told me that he was aware of the issue and gave assurances that the matter was being taken care of.

"I believe he said that some carpet was going to be removed and that the matter was well in hand."

Mr. Darrell said he later heard of other sick-outs at the school and raised the issue again when Neletha Butterfield was appointed Education Minister two months ago.

According to Mr. Darrell, the Minister once again declared that the matter was under control.

But after hearing of the scale of the problem, Mr. Darrell said it was clear Government only tackled the issue on a superficial level and failed to investigate all potential causes of sickness.

"The number of people getting sick was rising, but it seems like Government was just symptom-chasing rather than trying to find the cause," Mr. Darrell said.

"Why did they not take a systematic approach as it was clear that it was spreading through the school blocks on such a scale as to become an epidemiological event?."

Mr. Darrell said that, rather than simply remove some mould-covered carpeting, an extensive examination of the school's heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems should have been ordered.

He also said he had heard concerns that maintenance staff were "not comfortable" working on the school's sophisticated ventilation systems.

"What I am sure of is that Government had the knowledge that people were getting sick and the Ministers had the authority to address causation and that doesn't appear to have happened," he said.

"They took a piecemeal approach looking at residual problems."

Mr. Darrell denied that he was politicising the issue, pointing out he could have spoken out publicly about his concerns as early as last summer.

"Had I come forward then it might have produced an unhealthy hysteria which may have been detrimental ? it would have been irresponsible," he said.

"I didn't want to create alarm in the public and so have been working within the system to ensure that the matter was addressed.

"But clearly Government has not used its time wisely. Given the potential magnitude of the problem and the indicators, they should have taken the Chief Medical Officer and gone through everything ? the heating, ventilation, air conditioning ? a year ago."

At a press conference yesterday afternoon, Randolph Horton, who was appointed Education Minister on Monday, said he had not spoken to either Mr. Lister or Miss Butterfield since learning of the health scare.

"I don't know, I just got here," he said when asked how long the Ministry had been aware of health concerns.

Mr. Horton dismissed a suggestion that the shutdown was prompted by a television news report broadcast on ZBM News on Wednesday night, saying the closure was ordered after a number of teachers became ill.

But he added: "I am not sure how far back that goes."

Mr. Horton also said he was unaware of reports that outside experts had recommend the school be shut down three months ago.

When Chief Medical Officer John Cann was asked if he had ever discussed health concerns at the school with either of the former Ministers in the last 18 months, Mr. Horton interjected, branding the question "unfair".

Asked to provide a more specific timeline of the history of health concerns at CedarBridge, Dr. Cann replied: "The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health have been working on this situation for a while. Work has been going on for a period of at least three months."

He also confirmed that several classrooms were closed off a number of weeks ago.

Mr. Horton also promised a full review would eventually be carried out to discover how the scare had developed.

But he added Government's first priority was to make the school safe for students, and now was not the time to be looking back and pointing blame.

"I'm going to review and check all the steps that have been taken in terms of us being in this position where we are," he said. "When we do the internal review we will find those answers."