Asbestos-free campaign finds little support in schools
In 2014, the government of Flanders launched a campaign to remove asbestos in all of the region’s infrastructure, but only one school has asked for help with the clean-up process
No imminent risk
At the end of 2014, the government of Flanders announced the ambition to remove asbestos in all of the region’s infrastructure by 2040. Under the plan co-ordinated by Ovam, schools were selected as a priority, along with public government buildings, residential buildings and farming infrastructure.
The government is currently creating an inventory of how much asbestos remains in some 300 schools across the region. Experts have discovered asbestos in walls, corrugated sheets, chimneys and pipe insulation. When the list is complete, a plan will be developed to remove the asbestos. That is expected by next year.
In the meantime, the government has already allocated €7.5 million to schools so they could get started cleaning up the asbestos before the plan is rolled out next year. But so far only one school has requested assistance.
It’s estimated that school in Flanders have some 15,000 tonnes of material containing asbestos. Although the material poses no imminent risk to public health, asbestos fibres released into the atmosphere through construction or a fire, for instance, can cause cancer and chronic lung disease. The production of asbestos was outlawed in Belgium in 1998.
Photo: Windy_/Flickr
