them with tiny specks of an unknown material.

Around 20 vehicles were affected, stretching from car parks close to the terminal building and those used for long-term parking.

It is unclear what the material was -- but there were fears it could have been paint from nearby renovation work or possibly dust from jackhammering on the roof.

Transport Minister Wayne Furbert was called to the incident, which occurred at noon yesterday.

He said he feared it was white paint that had blown in the high winds -- which had been gusting up to 37 knots -- from painting work on one of nearby buildings.

"It is not good, people take pride with their cars,'' he said.

But later a spokesman for contractors working at the site said it was also possible that dust from hammering work on a roof could have blown over onto the vehicles.

Airport officials had taken the registration numbers of the affected vehicles and would be making efforts to contact the owners, many of whom will be away on business or holiday.

"I have been trying to reach people at the Airport,'' said Mr. Furbert. "I can't say who is going to pay until I speak to people there.'' Alan Burland, president of contractors BCM McAlpine Ltd., said it was unclear where the material had come from, what it was or who was responsible.

Furbert probes Airport `mystery cloud' He confirmed that sub-contractors working for BCM McAlpine had been painting, but that they had been working on the underneath of a roof, at least 100 feet away from the affected area.

He also offered the possible explanation of dust blowing on to the cars from other work on the roof.

"That is the more likely cause of something falling on cars, that would be grit,'' he said.

"I would be really surprised if paint had been blown all the way over. There could have other people involved, doing other elements of maintenance work.'' Mr. Burland said that, if his contractors were responsible, he would do everthing possible to put the situation right.

He asked that anyone whose vehicle has been affected should go to their St.

John's Road premises where the appropriate action would be taken to remedy the situation.

"We urge anyone out there who has suffered any inconvenience to come to our offices and we will put it right,'' he said.