Paint odour forces closure of Customs HQ

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Workers of the Customs and Excise Division took a stance yesterday for their health and refused to work in the lower Church Street building that is currently being painted.
Staff gathered outside their office yesterday and OBSERVER media was told this was because the odour of the paint from the ongoing work had become unbearable.
Our newsroom was told that the work had been ongoing for some time and workers who complained of the smell and dust from the repair work that is centralised in the port audit section had been working only half of the day.
“Some would work the half day and go home, but [yesterday] was the first time there as a unified effort to bring attention to the matter,” a source told OBSERVER media. “Anyone who had business dealings with [the department] had to go to the Deep Water Harbour port.”
The building houses offices for three deputies, the comptroller of customs, a secretary, the cashier, accounts and IT offices.
There are several dozen other staff members assigned to work in the building.
When OBSERVER media arrived at the two-storey building yesterday there was a sign on the door which read: “Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Customs and Excise Headquarters will be closed to the general public today Wednesday 6th June, 2018. Sorry for the inconvenience.”
A second notice said that the ASYCUDA help desk would be operating from the Tariff Section [at] Deep Water Harbour.

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