Property owners with buildings containing asbestos will be responsible for the removal costs following the Cabinet's directive to the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) to oversee the elimination of these carcinogenic materials. The developments come after a Cabinet meeting that approved the gazetted removal of asbestos from all public and private facilities to mitigate health risks associated with asbestos exposure. ''To enhance public health and safety, the Cabinet has approved a nationwide asbestos removal initiative from all public and private facilities to mitigate health risks associated with asbestos exposure,'' read part of the dispatch by the Cabinet. ''Under the 'Polluter Pays' principle, property owners will bear the cost of removal.
The government anticipates that this initiative will reduce future disease burden, cut healthcare costs, and enhance environmental safety.'' NEMA offices in Nairobi, Kenya.
Photo Wkimedia Commons In the new directive, county governments will be required to establish designated disposal sites in line with part 2, Section 2(g) of the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution. ''The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) will oversee the safe removal, disposal, and handling of asbestos.
County governments were urged to establish designated disposal sites,'' the dispatch clarified. Asbestos, extensively used in Kenya's construction industry in the 1960s and 1970s, remains in government buildings, hospitals, schools, and even water supply systems. Classified as a human carcinogen, asbestos exposure is linked to severe health conditions, including lung cancer and mesothelioma (a cancer that develops in the tissue lining of the lungs, abdomen, and heart). Asbestos, which is popularly found in various government institution roofs, including hospitals, universities, and education centres, and coffee and tea estates, has been highly linked to cancer-related diseases.
