Labour call on Azzopardi to publish asbestos risk report

Labour MP Helena Dalli said claims by small business minister Jason Azzopardi that the consumer authority's offices were free of asbestos contamination, had been contradicted by statements by a consultant during a meeting for employees at the Mata Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority (MCCAA) on 20 September.

Minister Jason Azzopardi has hit at out news reports that claimed the MCCAA offices, which are sited adjacent to a building that has asbestos roof panelling, as scaremongering employees and the general public.

Azzopardi also denied any danger to MCCAA employees due to the deleterious state of the asbestos roof.

But Dalli, Labour's spokesperson on public administration, is claiming that when pressed on to further elaborate on the possible dangers of the asbestos by MCCAA employees, a government consultant on the matter was "categorical in accepting that one has cause to worry for the dangers this corroding roof could have for people's health."

Dalli said the same experts said the Occupational Health and Safety Authority does not have the legal powers to oblige the owner of the adjacent building to remove the dangerous roof.

Dalli also said it was not true that three-monthly assessments were being carried out on this danger, saying the first report conducted on the matter was so vague that another company was appointed to investigate the risk.

"What transpires from the 20 September meeting was that this expert never said the danger was 'zero' as stated by the minister, but indeed said one must be concerned about the corrosive state of the roof and that the building's owner should have removed it," Dalli said.

"Minister Azzopardi should be reminded that deteriorating asbestos can cause cancer and other terminal illnesses, so I invite him to publish the report that states the danger from the asbestos roof is 'zero'. When people fall ill and die, no decision or court sentence can bring them back."