Asbestos-roofed houses causing cancer in Kenya

The Government has raised the alarm over continued use of asbestos tiles for roofing after its components were found to contain cancer-causing elements.

Housing Principal Secretary Aidah Munano yesterday told a parliamentary committee that the Government, which for decades preferred to use the material for roofing due to its versatility and resistance to heat, had started replacing them after research found that they contribute to cancer.

The PS told the National Assembly Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Housing that the ministry plans to sensitise Kenyans against using the material for roofing.

Ms Munano was responding to a petition filed by residents of Nyeri town, who had sought the Government's intervention to replace the roofing of old houses in Blue Valley Estate which were built using asbestos tiles. They want them replaced with galvanised iron sheets due to the prevalence of cancer among residents as a result of drinking water collected from the roof.

"It is a fact this material, which the Government preferred for roofing its houses, causes cancer and it is no longer part of the material we are using or encouraging house developers to use for roofing. We are now in the process of replacing them," said the PS.

She told the committee chaired by Starehe MP Maina Kamanda that the pulling down of the material from Government houses started last year, but had been hampered by funding constraints.

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The PS requested Parliament's approval to use a percentage of the National Housing Revenue to fund the replacement of the material with galvanised iron sheets.

Mr Kamanda urged the ministry to hasten the sensitisation against the use of asbestos, urging the PS to liaise with the Ministry of Environment to sensitise against continued use of rain water collected from asbestos roofs.

The PS said that in Nyeri apart from the estate whose residents had petitioned Parliament, there were many other houses at the Kenya Police Training College in Kiganjo and the Murang'a University College that had such roofs, and which the ministry was targeting to replace.

Nyeri Town MP Esther Murugi complained that the roofing of the Government houses in Blue Valley Estate were worn out, exposing the residents to greater risks.

"We have witnessed an increase in the number of cancer patients and whatever it takes, we request the Government to replace this material," she said.