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<\/a><\/p>\n30 December 2011<\/p>\n
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Close to 63,000 square metres of asbestos roofing materials were removed from various public and private buildings in the country, according to an official from Asbestos Eradication Project.<\/p>\n
Speaking to The New Times, yesterday, Alfred Byiringiro, a civil engineer, said the initiative, which started in 2010, has seen thousands of asbestos roofs disposed off<\/p>\n
Asbestos is considered a dangerous indoor air pollutant and hazardous to human and animal health, which motivated the establishment of the project that operates under the Rwanda Housing Authority.<\/p>\n
Various government buildings, including hospitals and schools, have roofs made of asbestos .<\/p>\n
“Our target is to remove all the asbestos building materials from houses before 2015. Though people and institutions are injecting in their own money towards asbestos eradication; the process is not as fast as we wish it to be,” he asserted.<\/p>\n
Byiringiro mentioned that the process had initially faced a bottleneck of lack proper dumping sites, but, so far, four sites where the materials will be buried had been prepared.<\/p>\n
The sites are in areas of Kamonyi and Huye districts in the Southern Province, as well as Ngoma and Kayonza districts in the Eastern Province.<\/p>\n
He added that some of the removed materials were buried in Nyanza, Kicukiro District, in Kigali City, while others are for the time being kept in a temporary store in Muhanga District waiting to be properly disposed of in the designated dumping sites.<\/p>\n
“We have so far conducted training for 130 companies that can be hired to remove the materials without causing any damage,” he added.<\/p>\n
“People who want to remove asbestos inform us first in writing and we provide them with a list of companies responsible for pulling down the materials. Our role is to supervise to ensure proper disposal”.<\/p>\n
He called on government institutions like hospitals and schools to fully participate in the process, adding that some institutions did not take the issue seriously.<\/p>\n
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