"unsafe'' for pre-school infants.

Shadow Education Minister Ms Jennifer Smith disclosed in the House of Assembly this week that the Springfield pre-school in Somerset continued to operate despite warnings that it was "inadequate'' and should be "abandoned''.

The Government-run pre-school, housed in two separate cottages on Bermuda National Trust property, was highlighted as one of the worst of 11 public pre-schools in a 1989 Feasibility Study of School Facilities report.

The report, carried out by Canadian-based Exemplary Consultants and funded by Government, cited the following: Buildings were damp "causing health problems for staff and pupils''; There were problems providing adequate heat; Storage areas were lacking; Rainy days created problems of transferring students between the two cottages; The entryway to the property "is extremely dangerous for vehicles entering and leaving''; and Grounds keeping was a problem because personnel were shared with other facilities and departments.

"The Springfield site is inadequate and should be abandoned as a pre-school,'' the report concluded.

Lagoon Park Pre-school and Somerset Primary School were recommended as alternate school sites.

Ms Smith said four years later infants were still at the site.

"I don't know how they (Government) can live with themselves, having these children in conditions deemed so unsafe,'' she said.

Ms Smith noted the library had been closed at Springfield and, according to the report, the National Trust was "anxious to have the pre-school moved as they plan to proclaim the area an historical site''.

She also noted that Heard Chapel Pre-school, which did not have problems as great as Springfield, was moved last year from the Heard Chapel Christian Education Centre in Pembroke to Prospect.

Ms Smith questioned how the Ministry decided which schools would be improved first.

Education Minister the Hon. Gerald Simons did not respond to the issue in the House.

But on Tuesday he told The Royal Gazette his Ministry was "actively working on providing alternative accommodation to students at Springfield''.