Indian Ocean Tsunami
The destruction wrought by the Indian Ocean tsunami devastated communities in Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, Indonesia and the Maldives. On February 22, 2005, Ian Cohen, an Australian politician who was on the beach in Hikkaduwa, in the south-west of Sri Lanka on December 26, 2004, told the New South Wales Parliament that in the aftermath of the tsunami there was:
“a great deal of asbestos spread around that coastal area. As the houses and buildings were destroyed, asbestos was broken up. It was being cleared by hand and bulldozer without appropriate safety measures.”
Despite Cohen's warnings of the hazards caused by thousands of tonnes of asbestos waste, no attempts were made to control the widespread contamination. Cohen explained:
“There is an asbestos industry in Sri Lanka that claims it is just blue asbestos that is the problem, not white asbestos. I have it on good authority from people who have been involved in unions here in Australia that white asbestos is as much the issue as is blue asbestos. I have written a letter to Alexander Downer advising him that the asbestos industry in Sri Lanka has been conducting an aggressive campaign to convince particularly Southeast Asian countries that asbestos products are safe. I believe – confirmed by the advice I have received – that asbestos products are not safe and that in future we will see a massive problem of asbestos-related products.”
Sri Lankan developers told Cohen of their intention to use asbestos-containing products in the reconstruction of homes and offices.1 A newspaper article which appeared on December 10, 2004, reported the donation of asbestos roofing sheets to the Sri Lanka reconstruction effort by Maria Janssens, a “German philanthropist” who lives in Belgium.2
Calls for the use of non-asbestos alternatives have been made in Australia, the UK and India. Alexander Downer, Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs, has given assurances that the money “going to Ausaid3 will not allow asbestos to be used in that company's building projects.” In the UK, trade unionists and politicians are also concerned about the possible use of asbestos products. On February 21, 2005, Brendan Barber, General Secretary of the TUC, sought assurances from Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for International Development, that:
“the UK Government will use its influence with the authorities in the countries concerned to ensure that funds provided by the British Government for the reconstruction effort will not be used for purchase of asbestos as roofing material.”
On February 23, 2005, MPs meeting at the Asbestos Sub-Committee of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Safety and Health discussed similar concerns and resolved to raise them at the highest level of Government. In India, the NGO Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI) contacted Care India, an international development agency, about the composition of temporary shelters being constructed in Palayar; Care spokesperson Sandhya Venkateswaran confirmed that the roofs for the ten by fifteen foot structures were made of asphaltic rooflite and not asbestos.
February 28, 2005
Post-script:
A reply from Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for International Development to the letter from Brendan Barber, General Secretary of the TUC, stressed that "post-tsunami reconstruction should be carried out with due consideration for health risks. The use of materials such as asbestos should be clearly avoided." He continued: "We would be very concerned if UN agencies or non-governmental organisations that we work with were using asbestos. The Department for International Development (DFID) expects its partner agencies to follow the sphere guidelines in the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response…DFID will work to ensure that these standards are met, both in post-tsunami reconstruction and responses to future disasters."
March 23, 2005
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1 Asbestos used in post-tsunami rebuild. February 15, 2005. http://www.ethicalcorp.com/content_print.asp?ContentID=3477
2 German philanthropist helps fishermen to build houses. December 10, 2004. http://www.dailynews.1k/2004/12/10/news42.html
3 AusAID: Australian Agency for International Development. The Australian Federal Government has promised $500 million as a donation to the tsunami appeal and a further $500 million as an interest-free loan over quite a long period.
