Health Minister Nelson Bascome came under fire again in the House of Assembly on Friday over the long-awaited report into the asbestos scare at the new Southside housing development.

Members of the United Bermuda Party used the Motion to Adjourn session of Parliament to berate the Government over the report into the alleged wrong-handling of the deadly substance by workers employed by Government MP Arthur Pitcher's construction company.

It is two years since the allegations were made, and the report has still not been released.

Opposition House Leader Maxwell Burgess said besides the fact that the public needed to know what had happened on the Bermuda Housing Corporation worksite, it was only fair on Mr. Pitcher that the Government dealt with the issue as quickly as possible.

He said: "We might find out in the report that it was not asbestos. It may be unfounded. He may be exonerated. It's unfair that the Government did not report on the asbestos to the member of St. George's South."

Shadow Legislative Affairs spokesman John Barritt described the delayed report as a "sad state of affairs".

"This question of asbestos is a serious one," he said.

"A Government Minister was awarded that contract - Mr. Pitcher. The Ministry cannot expect to treat him as if he was an ordinary contractor. Like Caesar's wife, he was beyond reproach."

Mr. Bascome told The Royal Gazette in June that the report on asbestos would be tabled in the House before the end of this session, which is likely to be in August.

But he said it would not just contain details of the asbestos removed at Southside, but also on other sites around the Island, and how the issue should be dealt with.

However, he pledged that the report into asbestos on Mr. Pitcher's site would not be buried or minimised.

Mr. Bascome said there were 175 containers of asbestos at the public works quarry when the Progressive Labour Party came into Government, and there were now more than 250.