The long-awaited report into the handling of asbestos at Southside is at last to be tabled in the House of Assembly in the coming weeks - two years after it began.

Health Minister Nelson Bascome said technical officers had compiled a number of reports on the handling of the potentially-deadly material and were now putting them together in a concise form to present to Parliament during this Session.

The report is expected to detail if and how the law was broken when construction workers employed by Progressive Labour Party (PLP) backbencher Arthur Pitcher demolished the asbestos-laden buildings on Texas Lane in June 2000.

Mr. Pitcher had not applied for the required permit from the Department of Health before beginning the demolition work.

And residents nearby said his workers had also been carrying out the dismantling work without wearing any protective gear. As a result, Mr. Bascome called for an investigation and report to be carried out at the end of that month.

Mr. Bascome this week said a number of reports had been written detailing a number of different companies and individuals who had violated the abatement of asbestos, besides Mr. Pitcher.

He said: “Technical officers have been compiling a number of reports and it's just a matter of now putting all these reports together and making them concise.

“The report will be tabled this Session. There are a number of instances where asbestos was not handled in the specific way. Two weeks ago we had another case. I would say that Mr. Pitcher's was minor.”

The Minister said, however, that the report would also look at the rules and regulations with regards asbestos, with a view to improving health and safety policies and procedures when dealing with the substance.

But Mr. Bascome gave an assurance that the report would deal specifically with Mr. Pitcher's case, and simply not dwell on the need to improve rules and regulations.

He said: “Everything will be in there.”

But Shadow Health Minister Michael Dunkley, who has joined his colleagues in the Opposition United Bermuda Party in repeatedly calling for the report to be released, said he would not believe the findings would be tabled in the House before the summer recess until he saw it.

But he said it was almost two years since Mr. Bascome ordered the report and the finding were now well overdue.

Mr. Dunkley said: “We had a promise that it would be done a long time ago and we are still waiting. We would certainly be pleased to see it tabled.

“I'm not pointing fingers at anyone special, but we want to know clearly what happened at Southside.

“We don't want it hidden or couched in other ways. The report was requested by the Opposition to look into how the asbestos was handled down there.

“Simply coming out and telling us where regulations and rules need to be improved won't be good enough.”

And Mr. Dunkley said he and his colleagues had feared that the delay in releasing the report was down to a “cover-up” by Government because one of its MPs was involved.

He added: “Clearly, it's in the best interests to have this report put out so the public can be assured that the Government is dealing with this issue.

“We are going to hear about more and more asbestos that is having to be moved. If our policies are not working correctly now, we have to rectify them

“But because this issue is so close to Government, with a backbencher being involved, I believe it's going to be a cover-up.”

Mr. Pitcher became embroiled in the asbestos controversy as the general contractor selected by the Bermuda Housing Corporation to build 20 low-cost homes on the Southside site.