The Mepa Professional Workers' Union said today that it had directed its members to vacate Hexagon House and report to the St Francis Ravelin offices in Floriana at the first sign of obnoxious odours and discomfort.

It said that several employees were yesterday certified on site by local doctors from the Floriana health centre to be suffering medical side effects attributed to the ongoing exposure to the odours and other substances being experienced in the area and lack of adequate building ventilation.

Representatives from the Occupational Health and Safety Authority, Environmental Health Department and Water Services Corporation were called to Hexagon House to investigate the situation within the premises.

"Unfortunately, the situation is still ongoing and no solution to the problem has been found to date. Despite reassurances by management who had known about this situation even before acquiring the property, the problem has persisted and staff regularly report odours and discomfort in their workplace. Records show that there have been no less than 50 instances of full or partial evacuation of the premises since September 2008 resultant from obnoxious odours," the union said.

It said it was seriously concerned for the welfare and health of its members and hoped that management would take all necessary steps to ensure that the situation was resolved.