An MP wants those responsible for allowing CedarBridge Academy to become infested with a dangerous mould to be fired.

A lack of diligence in the face of evidence that a major health risk was emerging at the Island?s largest school demands action and heads to roll, according to Shadow Health Minster Louise Jackson.

And Education Minister Randy Horton, who found himself at the centre of a national emergency only three days after being appointed to his new role, last night pledged a thorough investigation to find out what had gone wrong at the school.

While not being drawn on whether sackings will be ordered, Mr. Horton said: ?This is a very serious case and will not be looked at lightly.?

Asked if the public will be shown the results of the investigation, he replied: ?I?m doing a complete investigation on the situation every step of the way to find out what happened and why and I think the public deserves to be informed.?

Mr. Horton paid tribute to workers who have been putting in long hours over the weekend to ready facilities on Paget Island, Darrell?s Island and Port?s Island so that 800 students will be able to continue studies for the first three days before being given the rest of the week off in the run-up to the mid-term break.

Tents have been erected on the islands to accommodate some of the extra-curricular activities for students, although CedarBridge principal Kalmar Richards said buildings on the islands would be used for the bulk of activities.

In a live radio broadcast Premier Ewart Brown said CedarBridge students heading to three Islands for classes today are to be given free transport on buses and ferries to and from classes ? providing they are carrying ID ? until their school reopens.

Addressing concerns about what might happen if students have an accident or are taken ill while studying on the Islands, principal Richards said there would be staff trained in First Aid and CPR on each island as well as a pilot and boat ready to evacuate any ill students.

According to Mrs. Richards, a cross-ministry initiative has ensured that bus timetables will allow students to get to Albuoy?s Point to catch the 9 a.m. boats to Darrell?s and Port Island, and the 9.30 a.m. boat at Ordnance Island, St. George?s to reach Paget Island. Students who normally walk to school should walk to Albuoy?s Point or alternatively go to the school to catch a bus.

Asked by the if the old Berkeley Institute, which closed July, might be re-opened to house the displaced students, Mrs. Richards would only say: ?We are in discussions and deliberations about a tighter contingency plan.?

Quizzed on the same point, Mr. Horton replied: ?That is not anything we have not looked at. It may be a possibility if we have to go beyond the mid-term break. We are looking at all the options.?

Criticism is mounting about how the health scare at CedarBridge was allowed to grow to such proportions that it resulted in more than 800 students and staff being told to stay away from the school. Despite the recommendation to do a clean-up during the summer months, from Texas-based Microbiology Specialists Inc. it appears little or no action was taken.

Shadow Health Minister Mrs. Jackson said: ?I?ve never seen such irresponsible, and in my opinion, criminal negligence on the part of the Government?s health and education authorities with regard to the safety of our children.

?It is now very apparent through the documents which were printed by last week that the authorities, and that includes the headteacher and the former Health and Education ministers, were aware of the problem. The buck stops with the two ministers.?

Mrs. Jackson said the evidence of ?sick outs? affecting teachers and students stretches back a number of years and was something that had been raised by Shadow Education Minister Neville Darrell with both former education ministers Terry Lister and Neletha Butterfield.

Referring to the US specialists? report, she said: ?They said the school should be closed, so there obviously was a problem.

?Government spent taxpayers? money to get these consultants in there. If the Ministry and school all knew back in July why did they not take the proper procedures and clean the place and have it sanitised?

?They knowingly allowed students to return to school in September and put them at risk.?

Mrs. Jackson said any professional person charged with not carrying out due diligence in the matter should be ?swiftly and severely dealt with? and she added: ?In other words, fired.?

She also feels the idea of sending displaced students to three islands to carry on their studies for the next three days is ?hare-brained?. And Mrs. Jackson added: ?I get the feeling this Government has no conception of how to run a country. If this is how you take care of the education and health of our children then God help us.?

Shadow Education Minister Mr. Darrell is also mystified by the decision not to have the school cleaned-up during the summer break after the specialist report was made in July.

?The whole matter has been profoundly mismanaged on a number of levels,? he said citing the maintenance of the air-conditioning and the failure to track the spread of the fungus and mould by the school and the Education Ministry.

He said: ?Someone has failed to be a proper steward of these students. The students are the victims in all this. Someone needs to be held accountable, it has spun out of control.?

Mr. Darrell said he had used his position as Shadow Minister to quiz and prod the two former Education Ministers about the concerns he was hearing regarding the school and had been given assurances things were in hand only for the full-scale emergency to be announced last Wednesday night on live TV.

And once the school is eventually cleaned up he has called for Government to put itself on the line and hold a meeting or tour of the school ? or even a session of parliament ? before any students or teachers are told to go back into the building.

A full page advert in today?s newspaper gives details of arrangements for students during the next few days.

Parents and guardians can e-mail CBAmoed.bm, or call 278-3304 with any queries or concerns. Parents who have changed their contact details since the start of the school year are advised to update the records by contacting the Ministry or principal Richards who can be reached at 278-3303.