BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, JUNE 1ST 2006 - Government offices on the second and third floors of the Treasury Building on the corner of Church and Central Streets have been closed to the public for the remainder of this week.
Employees of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Sustainable Development have been sent home to allow workmen to decontaminate the offices and the entire building following a fire two weeks ago, which partly gutted the ground floor that housed the Treasury.
Smoke from the fire have affected the second floor which houses the Ministry of Sustainable Development and the top floor, that has offices of the Ministry of Finance.
Employees of the Treasury, who were immediately affected have been working out of the former building which once housed the Development bank of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Heavy scent of smoke and soot from the fire have contaminated the offices on the top floors and the long weekend will be used to return them to normalcy. Workmen were installing split air conditioning units on Thursday in an effort to improve the quality of air and the heat which resulted from the destruction of the central unit.
The offices will reopen to the public on Tuesday 6th June as Monday 5th is Whit Monday, a public holiday.
Earlier in the week, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, accompanied by senior government officials met with staff of the Ministries of Finance and Sustainable Development.
Dr. Douglas heard the concerns of the employees and promised to do all that is possible to safeguard their health and return the offices to normalcy. He also briefed them on initiatives to relieve the congestion and announced plans to condemn the nearby Ministry of Health and build a larger structure that will include the nearby empty property that is now being used as a parking lot by officials of The Cable.
