Office of the President employees being tested

The tests were done to determine the health status of the employees after the Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago Limited informed the Office of the President of the presence of asbestos material at President’s House and its environs. The employees, were transported yesterday by and an Office of the President vehicle.

Communication Advisor to the President Theron Boodhan told Newsday yesterday that once all the staff are tested, it is expected that President Anthony Carmona, his wife Reema and their children will undergo similar tests. He said that the Occupational Safety and Health Agency were informed of the presence of asbestos material at President’s House and its environs, and were due to visit the precincts.

Asbestos, once employed as a fire retardant in building materials, has been linked to cancer. However, Udecott (Urban Development Corporation) yesterday in a press release denounced reports that lives were put at risk at President’s House following the disturbance of tiles containing asbestos on the property. The corporation yesterday stated that it, “categorically denies that tiles containing asbestos confined to a small storage room at President’s House were disturbed at the time of this official media release today at 6.21 pm.” “Furthermore,” Udecott added, “there is no asbestos at the Office of the President, no asbestos at the President’s Cottage, no asbestos at Ancillary Office which service the Office of the President and are daily traversed by its staff.” “The restoration of the President’s House is currently at the design stage in preparation for the tender process, and to ensure proper planning for the start of works, Udecott by letter dated November, 22, 2016, informed its client, that it is in the process of obtaining a Contractor for the removal of asbestos containing materials within President’s House which is to be refurbished,” the release stated.

In an apparent reference to an article published in another newspaper yesterday, Udecott said, “A staffer at Udecott in e-mail correspondence to questions asked, emanating from the Office of the President, was simply relaying the importance of putting arrangements in place to ensure that staff were properly relocated, in line with global best practice, for the start of construction works.”