The Tribune

By CHESTER ROBARDS

Tribune Senior Reporter

crobards@tribunemedia.net

AN OUTBREAK of mold in the building that houses the office of the Prime Minister almost took the life of one person Tuesday and sent another to the hospital yesterday, according to Public Services Union president John Pinder.

The scare caused workers to walk out of the building yesterday, until the severity of the problem was understood.

Mr Pinder said both affected people were rushed to the hospital with respiratory complications. Tuesday’s case was worse than yesterday’s, he said: “We almost lost that one yesterday.”

He said both people are now in hospital in stable condition.
According to Mr Pinder, the mould was found to be mostly in the Ministry of Finance and the Department of Information Technology where pipes were leaking into the walls.

He said the people working in those departments will be relocated to other areas and possibly other government agencies until the mould problem can be resolved.

Mr Pinder added that cleaning crews will have to remove interior walls in those departments and expect the clean-up to take two to three weeks.

The clean-up will be done over the long Easter weekend, he said.

While it has been suggested that the mould is not dangerous, Mr. Pinder said it is extremely dangerous to people with existing respiratory illnesses like asthma and to people with allergies.

“That’s why we are just trying to be proactive,” he said. “We are telling them (government) to be proactive in addressing these matters.

The Ministry of Education building was recently shut down to rid it of a persisting mould infestation.