AUSTRALIAN BUILDERS - UNCARING OR IGNORANT?
Mackay, in Quensland, Australia, was subjected to flash floods back in February this year and it was declared a disaster area.
Now, as the clean-up operation moves up a gear, asbestos removal expert Jayson Maskell-Drew says he is horrified to discover that Mackay families are being poisoned. Apparently, some builders are ripping down asbestos-laden walls in their rush to rebuild the city. And nobody seems to care.
Mr Maskell-Drew said flood-damaged homes were being repaired without the proper precautions, with sheets of asbestos regularly seen discarded on people's lawns, putting neighbourhoods at risk of contamination. He blames uncaring builders for putting themselves and residents at risk of asbestosis or mesothelioma.
The report on this matter says that when Queensland Asbestos Related Diseases Support Society were told about builders tearing asbestos out of houses and leaving them in the open, their spokeswoman sounded panicked.
Oh dear. Of course, one of the problems is that it will be twenty years or so before the repercussions are felt.