Duale:Govt to reinforce asbestos roofing ban by end of the month » Capital News
NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 6 – Environment Cabinet Secretary Adan Duale has emphasized the government’s commitment to eradicate the use of asbestos roofing in the country 18 years after it was banned due to health concerns.
Government ministries, Schools, Hospitals and Religious institutions have been listed as still using asbestos roofing which has been analyzed as the main cause of lung cancer.
Appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Petitions, Environment Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale indicated that his docket had written to five ministries to remove the asbestos roofing within three months with the deadline set for December 30.
“I don’t think that anybody does asbestos roofing these days but you will find that in every village, in hospitals, government institutions and schools roofing is done using asbestos…fifty five countries all over the world including the USA, Australia, have banned the use of asbestos as a roofing material,” Duale said.
Asbestos fibres may cause serious lung diseases including asbestosis and cancer. Smoking also increases the risk of developing illness from asbestos exposure. Disease symptoms may take several years to develop following exposure.
Currently, the people most heavily exposed to asbestos are those in the construction sector and most occupational exposures occur during the repair, renovation, removal or maintenance of asbestos.
Records show that Nairobi County had the highest number of public and private facilities fitted with asbestos roofing standing at 92.
These include the Nairobi County government offices, National Cereals and Produce Board and Kenyatta University, Kenyatta National Trading Cooperation, Kenyatta National Hospital, British High Commission, Kenya Railways, Kenya Commercial Bank.
Meru County (45), Machakos County (34),Embu County (32), Busia County(26), Kitui County (21),Kakamega County (19), Kisumu (19), Tharaka Nithi County (16) and Bungoma County (13).
Also on the list Marsabit County (9),Vihiga County (8), HomaBay (10),Makueni County (6) Isiolo County (7),Kisii County (7)Siaya (6), Nyamira (5), and Migori (2).
“Today there are many Kenyans who drink the water from the asbestos roofs, whose piping in their houses are made of asbestos. I am not a medical expert but I can link the high cases of cancer in our country to the use of asbestos roofing. We have scientifically proven that,” the Environment CS stated.
Budgetary constraints are said to have hindered the removal of asbestos from the public facilities with the Environment Ministry having commenced talks with the National Treasury to avail the funds.
“We have also posted guidelines on the removal of asbestos on the NEMA website. We are also working with County Governments to educate them on how the asbestos should be disposed of so that it does not affect the environment and health of our citizens,” Duale pointed out.
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