14 May 2008

Niue opposition wants asbestos dumped at sea

8:31 am on 14 May 2008

A Niue opposition MP, Terry Coe, says he wants to see the sheets of asbestos lying around on the island, damaged during the 2004 cyclone Heta, dumped at sea.

Sheets of asbestos are stacked in containers near the airport, while some houses, occupied and unoccupied still have asbestos roofs that need removing.

The government says it's made no decision yet for where to dispose the sheets, and it won't do so until all the asbestos has been gathered and safely stored.

Terry Coe says a decision needs to be made soon.

"The Forum's coming and the place looks so untidy with all this fibre-lite that's stored around the villages that's been taken out. The best idea is the same as the Cooks - is that we take it out to sea and dump it in the sea. We could put in containers and then hull the containers, take them out and just sink them out there."

Terry Coe says he doesn't want to see it buried on Niue as there's worries about the asbestos getting into the drinking water.