A company run by former Progressive Labour Party MP Arthur Pitcher which broke safety rules when it removed asbestos from a building site has escaped prosecution, The Royal Gazette has learned.

Shadow Health Minister Michael Dunkley said yesterday it confirmed the long-held suspicion that the scandal would be covered up and no one would be held accountable.

An official report by the Health Department found Mr. Pitcher's firm, ACL Ltd., broke the rules by not taking necessary safety precautions when it removed the asbestos from a site at Southside.

The report also found Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC), which contracted ACL to build new houses, and Bermuda Land Development Corporation (BLDC), which owned the site, didn't do their jobs properly or follow proper procedures to determine if the buildings contained asbestos.

Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Cann, who wrote the report, said yesterday his department will not be prosecuting anyone in relation to the incident.

Former Health Minister Nelson Bascome ordered an inquiry in June, 2000 after The Royal Gazette reported residents said most of Mr. Pitcher's staff were not wearing safety masks when they removed the asbestos from houses at Stevens Circle to build houses for BHC and that it was transported from the site in open trucks.

Mr. Pitcher's staff were later stopped by Environmental Health officers from dumping the debris at Tynes Bay Incinerator because of fears it contained asbestos.

The newspaper later revealed that ACL Ltd. flouted established procedures by not applying to the Planning Department for a permit before beginning the removal.

The official report was not made public until last month - some three-and-a-half years later - and even then it was just a three-page summary.

But when it was finally released in December, it found ACL “removed demolition debris from the site without taking the necessary safety precautions”.

The report found BLDC, which owned the land, knew that hazardous materials had to be removed before the buildings were demolished, but did not commission an in-depth survey on the buildings.

And BHC did not do a survey to find out if asbestos was in the building.

Nor did BHC, then run by sacked general manager Raymonde Dill, apply for a building permit which would have required it to provide information about asbestos.

The official report from Dr. Cann's office found that consultants discovered there was between two and three percent asbestos in the waste material.

See Editorial, Page 4

Yesterday, Dr. Cann told The Royal Gazette: “Your basic question is ‘do we intend to prosecute anyone or attempt to have someone prosecuted', and the answer is ‘no'.

“We don't have any plans to prosecute anyone. We feel that there were situations or errors that may have involved a number of different parties and the department has to be clear that its standards were clear to people, that we have enough information to base a prosecution.

“All of that combined led us to a decision not to prosecute anyone. We have made sure steps are in place to ensure such a situation does not occur again.”

When asked why he would not be prosecuting ACL when his own report found they had broken the rules, Dr. Cann said: “I stand by the answer I have just given you.”

Yesterday, Mr. Dunkley said: “This is very disappointing. Not that I specifically want Arthur Pitcher prosecuted because I don't want it to seem as if I am going after one individual.

“This is very disappointing because this thing was a big stink right from the beginning.

“We always said that this was going to be a cover-up and nothing was going to get done, and time has borne that out.

“It just goes to show that Government doesn't have to be accountable on issues like this.

“And are others associated with the Government allowed to get the same leniency if they fall foul of the law?

“It is very difficult for me to understand how people elected to positions of authority carry out their business without ensuring all the “i's” are dotted and all the “t's” are crossed.

“I wonder what steps have been taken to ensure this doesn't happen again. The people of Bermuda will have to pay for this in taxes and I don't think they will accept that come Budget time.

“Government and the BHC knew full well that asbestos was there before the work started and they should not have allowed anyone to remove it before the proper controls were in place. There was a study in place before which showed it was there.

“Everyone knew before it started and nothing has happened about it. That's not responsibility.”

Mr. Pitcher was an MP for St. David's under former Premier Jennifer Smith's government, but he did not stand in the last election.

When contacted by The Royal Gazette yesterday, Mr. Pitcher said: “I've nothing to say. I've dealt with that enough.”