By Francine Black, Staff ReporterA PLAN is being devised to remove asbestos-made pipes from the Burke Road Heights/Succaba Pen Community in Old Harbour, southwest St. Catherine, since funding agencies have indicated a willingness to finance the project.
The proposal is being prepared by Professor Ishenkumba Kahwa, head of the Department of Chemistry, University of the West Indies, Mona, who has done extensive research on the use and disposal of asbestos. He says it will take about $10 million to clear the community entirely of the harmful material.
The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), Jamaica's environmental regulator, which is leading the clean-up, says the project will require $1 million to $5 million in the first phase. The agency stepped in after residents of Succaba Pen began removing asbestos-made pipes on their own.
The residents had been moving the pipes to the Riverton City Landfill in western St. Andrew, but were told to stop by Professor Kahwa. He said that such removal released asbestos fibres and therefore posed an even greater danger to Succaba Pen.
MEETING PLANNED
Trevor Ramikie, manager of NEPA's Pollution, Prevention and Control Branch, said a meeting on the clean-up project was planned with various agencies, including the environmental unit in the Ministry of Health and the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA).
LAND OWNERSHIP ISSUES
STILL A CONCERN
The clean-up has been talked about for almost 10 years. But even with the new developments, land ownership issues continue to be a concern to the parties.
"There are agencies who would like to provide the money for the clean-up, however they are a bit hesitant because the government needs to say whether the land will belong to the residents after it is cleaned," Professor Kahwa said.
The Environmental Foundation of Jamaica (EFJ) is funding the professor's asbestos research and has expressed an interest in funding the clean-up, Marlene Lewis of the EFJ, told The Gleaner yesterday.
NEPA is also involved in a clean-up of schools and health centres whose roofing contains asbestos that pose a danger to staff and students. The sites were identified in a recent study by Professor Kahwa and NEPA.
Asbestos is the name given to a group of fibrous minerals that occur naturally in the environment. Asbestos minerals are strong, flexible and heat resistant. There are three grades depicted in white, brown and blue, which is the most dangerous.
Inhaling asbestos fibres, over an extended period of time, can cause asbestosis and lung cancer.
Professor Kahwa noted, however, that asbestos was generally safe but the risk to human beings increased through direct exposure to fibres emitted from broken asbestos pipes or crumbling asbestos roofing.
