Water and Sewerage Corporation employee Floyd Russell, who was injured during an explosion last week, underwent several medical operations after he was airlifted to a Florida hospital late Friday night, according to Minister of State for the Environment Phenton Neymour.

Russell, a senior serviceman and 20-year employee of the corporation, suffered two broken legs, lacerations to the face, burns about the body and internal injuries, during the explosion which took place at the corporation's garage on John F. Kennedy Drive shortly after 5 p.m. last Thursday.

Neymour told reporters yesterday that Russell was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami around 11 p.m. on Friday.

"He went through surgery on Saturday morning to both his legs and to his hip, he subsequently went through another surgery yesterday but he was doing well and he was in good spirits," said Neymour, who has responsibility for the corporation.

Earlier this week, Progressive Liberal Party chairman Bradley Roberts criticized Neymour over his handling of the explosion.

"It is very interesting that junior minister Neymour did not satisfactorily address the lack of safety standards at the corporation," Roberts said in a statement.

"To date his communication to the public has been mostly along the lines of updates regarding the injured employee's condition and his most recent interview aired on the radio today reflects this," said Roberts. "In the spirit of transparency and accountability, I am calling on the prime minister to address the lack of focus and accountability displayed by both Ministers Earl Deveaux, junior minister Neymour and the chairman given charge over this corporation."

However, Neymour brushed those comments off, saying that it was merely a ploy by Roberts in an effort to make the news.

"I was on the scene [of the explosion]," Neymour said. "I reported to the Bahamian people what happened with the explosion at Water and Sewerage. There's an investigation that's going (on), conducted by the insurance company, internally by the Water and Sewerage Corporation and also an independent investigator that we're bringing in to investigate the explosion. I thought I was very transparent."

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