Alarm as asbestos material dumped in Thika

Panic has gripped Kang’oki Village in Makongeni, Thika after 20 truckloads of asbestos roofing sheets were dumped in the area by unknown people.

According to eyewitnesses, the trucks made their way into the area on August 6, 2015 in a convoy and dumped the material, whose nature they could not immediately ascertain.

The county executive in charge of Water, Environment and National Resources, Esther Njuguna, toured the area to ascertain the nature of the waste and informed residents that the material was asbestos and that it has been banned by the World Health Organisation (WHO) since the material could cause cancer.

She added that there were guidelines put in place by National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) on how asbestos materials should be disposed, saying it was disheartening to learn the hazardous material had been allegedly dumped under the supervision of an official from NEMA.

Harmful and Banned

Speaking to Citizen Digital, area residents lamented that they had already collected the roofing sheets, which they have used to roof and fence their homes unbeknown to them that the material was harmful and banned in the country.

The director of environment in the county, Peter Mwangi, said the county is in hot pursuit of the culprits who committed the offence, adding that officers have crucial leads that they are following to bring those involved to book.

He called on the locals to return the roofing sheets they had taken so that they can be disposed in the stipulated manner.

Additional reporting by James Gitonga