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A man is searching for his former colleagues after he was diagnosed with an asbestos-related illness – which he believes is a potential consequence from working at Fort Regent in the 1970s.
In a post on social media, islander Micky Bees called for local support in identifying his former construction crew friends, who were also involved in the former activity centre’s building in order to warn them about what had happened to him.
At its worst, exposure to carcinogenic asbestos can cause mesothelioma - a form of cancer affecting the lining of the lungs, but non-malignant diseases Asbestosis (a scarring of the lung tissue) and pleural disease (affecting the outer lining of the lung) are also often found in those who worked with asbestos many years ago.
Pictured: Mr Bees' original Facebook post.
To help investigations, Mr Bees has supplied a photo – taken between 1976 and 1980 – featuring the group with Miss World, who was visiting Jersey at the time. It's now been shared over 80 times.
His plea for help comes following a resurgence in concerns over asbestos within the dormant former cable car building. These came to light after video of young boys entering the premises and walking on the Fort’s dome rooftop emerged on social media, provoking health and safety concerns from States members.
Pictured: A teenager climbs on framework in Fort Regent's former cable car station - an area known to contain the hazardous substance, asbestos.
In 2011, the then Assistant Minister for Treasury and Resources was quizzed by Deputy Kevin Lewis over the potential demolition of the idle swimming pool complex - closed since 2003 - and cable car station, but he claimed that this could cost up to £1 million of taxpayers’ money, given the scale of the issue and risks involved.
"It has been identified that the costs are mostly associated with asbestos within the roof structure within the inside of the building," he had said.
As such, the future of the Fort - much of which is now boarded up - remains uncertain.
Anyone with any information about other people in the photo is asked to contact Mr Bees on Facebook.
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