Government has indicated workers from private contractors rather than Hustle Truck workers were the ones exposed to asbestos at the Club Med site.

Yesterday Chief Medical Officer John Cann said asbestos caused problems with repeated long term exposure.

He added: "At this point there is no reason to believe that anyone will have been affected. Their exposure was extremely short-term."

Government has said up to eight workers were on the sixth floor where the asbestos was found on March 12 which led to a stop order on demolition work. Dr. Cann advised those workers to get their lungs checked now so changes could be monitored as time passed.

Works and Engineering Minister Derrick Burgess said long before the discovery of the asbestos containing material, workers wore masks to counter the tremendous amount of dust found in a building that had been closed for about two decades. Probed about which set of workers had been exposed Mr. Burgess said: "The Hustle Truck workers are not the Landmark workers."

A call by this paper to Landmark Construction was not returned yesterday.

Mr. Burgess claimed Shadow Health and Senior spokeswoman Louise Jackson had been scaremongering by suggesting that the Club Med site was a danger to surrounding neighbourhoods in St. George's and that there should be public inquiry to address health concerns of people who live down wind of the building.

He said: "Let me state here that when asbestos containing material was inadvertently uncovered in mid-March, work stopped immediately and workers were removed from the area.

"She also stated that there have been reports of friable asbestos, the form that can be harmful to individuals in the long term, emanating from the site. I refute that statement categorically. We have no evidence of the release of friable asbestos."

He said asbestos abatement will begin in the basement of the hotel today by B&B Fiber Tech Ltd., a local company which ensures full compliance with all required heath and safety measures.

"B&B Fiber Tech Ltd. staff members will also ensure that the basement area, including the boiler room, is inaccessible to anyone other than fully qualified asbestos-removers or representatives of Government agencies whilst the work is in progress. They will also ensure that the area is fully secure when they leave at the end of the day."

And he said B&B Fiber Tech Ltd. staffers will also sift through the pile of rubble currently in front of the building to ensure that there is no asbestos containing material there.

Should any such material be found, it will be properly extracted, wrapped and transported to the Government Quarry where it will be stored and secured in a manner approved by the Department of Health.

He said barriers have been erected to prevent unauthorized vehicular access to the building and consideration is being given to other safety measures.

Mrs. Jackson noted that the Minister refuted "categorically" the UBP's concern about friable asbestos.

"How can he do so when he says later that B&B will 'sift' through a pile of rubble to ensure there is no asbestos containing material there?

"He's saying no asbestos material was broken up? Highly unlikely."

"The Minister does not say specifically that Hustle Truck workers were NOT exposed to asbestos, though he could have.

"It's been more than two weeks since The Royal Gazette first reported Hustle Truck workers were exposed. Why no denials back then or in the days that followed? Also, were Hustle Truck workers working only in asbestos-free areas?"