Shadow Health Minister Louise Jackson last night claimed that parents of CedarBridge Academy students have told her their children have been made sick by mould at the school.

The United Bermuda Party politician told : ?I personally know there have been students affected whose parents have called me.?

She said the parents were ?afraid? to go public. ?They don?t know what to do. They are afraid of repercussions. We still don?t know how many children and teachers have been affected.?

CedarBridge ? the Island?s largest public school with 850-plus students and more than 100 teachers ? was closed by Education Minister Randy Horton on November 1 after he ordered a clean-up of mould in 20 classrooms.

He did not respond to a question yesterday about whether he was aware of any students made ill by mould and nor did the Government?s Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Cann.

Gerald Swan, chairman of the school?s Parent Teacher Student Association, would not comment on the claim. He said: ?I have only been the PTSA chairman since October and I?m not going to comment on any of that. Mr. Horton has got independent people checking that so I have no comment.?

Mrs. Jackson made her allegation after blasting Government for failing to act at the start of 2005 when an ill teacher raised concerns about the school environment, as revealed in this newspaper yesterday.

She questioned why then-Education Minister Terry Lister and then-Health Minister Patrice Minors did not order an investigation. ?This situation was known at the highest levels of education and health,? she said. ?To me, it seems there has been a total breakdown in ministerial oversight.

?It means that they obviously were not paying attention to their job and they should be called into account. The country wants explanation. People?s health was endangered. They did nothing for more than a year at the very least.?

Mrs. Minors, now a PLP backbencher after losing her portfolio a month ago when Ewart Brown became Premier, said last night that she knew nothing about potentially harmful mould at CedarBridge Academy throughout her time as Health Minister.

Mr. Lister, who also sits on the Government back bench after resigning his post in September, refused to comment.

Mrs. Jackson said the public had a right to know who was carrying out the independent inquiry into how the CedarBridge situation was handled ? as promised by Mr. Horton earlier this month ? and a right to know the results. She added: ?Somebody needs to be fired.?

Mr. Horton said yesterday: ?We are in the process of finalising selection of a panel to conduct the inquiry. They will be asked to complete their work as soon as possible. Their recommendations will be made public as has already been made clear.?

He added that mitigation work at the school was going well. ?Our goal is for the students to be back at CedarBridge Academy in January, pending clearance from the Ministry of Health.?

* Are you a CedarBridge parent who suspects their child may have been affected by mould at the school? Email sstrangewaysroyalgazette.bm or call 278-0155.