OPPOSITION MPs last night rounded on Government for allowing problems at the island's largest public school to escalate into a "nightmare" that threatened the health of hundreds of youngsters.

And they also urged Government to make such documents as the Harris report ¿ paid for out of the public purse ¿ available to the public.

Shadow Health Minister Louise Jackson said she found the report's contents "appalling", while the fact that Government had failed to release the findings was "unsettling".

"The Harris report, which was paid for by the people of this country, was never made public and the Government obviously never had any intention of making it public," Mrs. Jackson said.

"The whole issue of cockroach infestation has never been discussed before and yet, according to the report, it was evident that there has been a problem since 2002 or 2003. I just find it incredibly negligent of this Government, and the numerous Education Ministers we have had in that time, to allow this situation to go on for so long, particularly when we are talking about the health of the island's children. I find that appalling.

"Of course, we don't yet know if the problem still exists because Government has repeatedly failed to even acknowledge that there was a problem to begin with.

"There have been no reports given out saying that the building is now safe for occupation which really isn't very comforting. Is the school now safe? Has Government done anything to tackle this problem? I think the teachers and students of CedarBridge deserve some answers.

"Why was this report not made public? It was submitted to Government in February ¿ nine months ago ¿ and yet Government seemed so intent on keeping it hidden. Just what were they trying to cover up? It's extremely unsettling, but clearly whoever leaked this report to the media had some very genuine concerns," said Mrs. Jackson (pictured).

"As the new, incoming Government, the UBP will immediately carry out a full and open inspection of the school to ensure that it is safe. The people of Bermuda need assurances that the school is safe ¿ not another cover-up.

"I suspect that Mr. Harris was telling Government things that they didn't want to hear, so once again the report gets shelved and Mr. Harris gets dismissed."

Shadow Education Minister Grant Gibbons also weighed in on the crisis.

"Sadly, the Harris Report confirms, yet again, that the CedarBridge mould disaster was a study in negligence and gross mismanagement by government," Dr. Gibbons said.

"Poor communication and inadequate disclosure also needlessly added to the stress and anxiety of students and their parents, as well as the teachers and staff who worked at CedarBridge.

"Early problems and clear warning signs that should have been addressed by a proper maintenance programme and effective remediation before they got out of hand, were allowed to turn into a nightmare that seriously impacted the health of students and teachers and cost the taxpayer more than $4 million.

"The bad news is that the vermin infestation and air quality problems may still not be solved and likely will continue to cause health issues and require further expensive remediation."

Details of the report were also e-mailed to Bermuda Union of Teachers general secretary Mike Charles. Mr. Charles did not respond to questions by press time last night.