The residents of St. Peters deserve the right to be directly informed of the Government’s plans to demolish the Prins Willem Alexander asbestos infected School. This demolition takes place in a residential area and if not handled professionally and correctly can affect the health of those living in the St. Peters district.
According to article 21 of the Constitution of Sint Maarten “the Government shall take steps to promote public health”. Asbestos is a serious health hazard. Contrary to earlier belief, it is known now that exposure to small quantities of asbestos fibers, as may occur during routine work such as sanding or drilling asbestos materials over a period of time, can cause serious diseases. These diseases will not affect you immediately because they take a long time to develop. But once they are diagnosed it is too late to do anything about it.
Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral that has been used for about 150 years on a large commercial scale. It is a versatile product and is ideal as fire proofing and insulation. Unfortunately it can also be DEADLY causing serious lung diseases such as mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung cancer.
How to remove Asbestos? Asbestos based insulation materials are still quite common in many businesses. The only way to dispose of asbestos is safely and correctly and the best solutions for you depend upon the amounts of asbestos you have to dispose of. In the case of the school in St. Peters the asbestos should be disposed of through a licensed asbestos stripping company and the actual amount of asbestos removed should be registered. The Government owes it to the people of St. Peters to inform them as to when and how the asbestos will be removed and how they can protect themselves.
Please be aware that asbestos should NEVER be disposed of in your general waste bin. Your rubbish is treated by manual handlers and any loose asbestos placed in your bin poses a threat to their health as well. If you need to remove asbestos from your domestic premises please request the health department for assistance. REMBER – THE MORE ASBESTOS DUST INHALED THE GREATER THE RISK TO HEALTH!!! Let us protect our St. Maarten people!
Candidate on SMCP serving the residents of St. Peters for a change!
Mulrose Rogers-Toulon