THE ASBESTOS Management Plan is to be handed over to the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) within the next two weeks.
During the same period, health officials will be meeting with private sector and government officials to discuss the dangers of Asbestos and other toxic waste.
Professor Inshenkumba Kahwa, a member of the task force set up by NEPA over two years ago to develop the plan, said that the 200 plus page document was completed and will be handed over to NEPA's executive Director, Franklyn McDonald "within the next week or two."
Health and safety officials will also host a workshop on May 22 to talk to business and government leaders "about what we have found and issues that relate to toxic waste," said Professor Kahwa, who is also senior lecturer in the Chemistry Department at the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the researcher behind a study outlining the problem of asbestos and how badly it has affected local communities, including Succaba Pen, St. Catherine.
"We want to advise major leaders on the dangers of not really doing enough to protect the environment, especially as it relates to the health of the worker," he said.
The Asbestos management plan will contain management procedures to find out where Asbestos is located, how much is there, what is its condition and whether "we should we take it out, or should we manage it in place and who should be removing it," he said.
The plan will also look at whether licences to test for it or remove it should be issued. Where should the material should be disposed of and what are the procedures for doing these things.
On May 22, officials will discuss international conventions designed to protect workers' health, but which have not been ratified by Jamaica, said Professor Kahwa.
In October last year, Professor Kahwa, who has been doing research and running a public information campaign on local asbestos pollution for the last seven years, lamented that Succaba Pen and other areas were still under threat, as no steps have been taken to remove the dangerous material.
Prof. Kahwa said Tuesday that the proposed Occupational Health and Safety law "has been hanging around" for a number of years.
Senior adviser in the Labour and Social Security ministry, Anthony Irons, said yesterday that the long-anticipated Occupational Safety and Health Act will be tabled in Parliament this year.
Mr. Irons said that the document is currently with the Chief Parliamentary Counsel, which drafts legislation. The Ministry had sent the draft back to the CPC for more modifications and it should go back to the Labour ministry "any day now" for more reviews, he explained.
Mr. Irons said that the tabling of the Bill is one of two major projects of the Ministry, aimed at bringing the national safety programme in line with international standards.
A new occupational safety and health bill has been in the works since 1995. It was prompted by an International Labour Organisation report, which noted that occupational safety problems in Jamaica were largely due to lack of awareness and knowledge about the hazards among employers and employees.
The Industrial Safety Division at the Ministry admitted then, that a significant number of Jamaican workers continue to suffer pain and injury, due to contact with dangerous materials like asbestos. At the same time, employers have continued to ignore warnings from the Ministry, because of the lack of penalties for defiance under the Factories Act.
Last year, Senior Director of the division, Robert Chung, admitted that the current Factories Act passed in 1943, does not give the Ministry enough clout to defend the workers.
He said that the new Act will outline the framework for the achievement of safety and health at the workplace, the rights and duties of employers/employees and the procedures for dealing with occupational hazards and penalties when there is no compliance.
