Falklands : Housing Committee Report (07/19/06)
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 20.07.2006 (Article Archived on 03.08.2006)
Find out what happened during this important meeting.
HOUSING COMMITTEE REPORT (07/19/06)
By J. Brock (FINN)
A meeting of the Housing Committee took place in the Liberation Room of the Secretariat at 1330hrs on Wednesday, 18 July 2006. Present were Cllr Mike Summers (Chair), Cllr Dr. Richard Davies, Ms Roma Plato (Treasury), Ms Cathy Dobbyns (Human Resources) and Ms. Don Hoy (Housing Officer). Apologies came from Ms Vicky Butler (Social Services).
The minutes of the meeting held on 07 June 2006 were confirmed with the announcement that No. 3 Police Cottages has been offered for sale on a 99 year lease.
There was one item in the open section of this meeting – No. 1 Davis Street East.
George Burroughs wrote a report detailing the fact that in the floor and ceiling there was a quantity of “white” asbestos, thought to be the least harmful type of asbestos.
Cllr Davies expressed his concern that FIG would be selling a property knowingly with asbestos in its construction. Cllr summers said that there was no regulation in place saying that this was necessary. Dawn Hoy advised that there are items with asbestos in them that have been imported into the Falklands.
She added that No. 10 Drury Street was offered for sale but prospective buyers were told of the asbestos in that building.
The three options suggested in Mr. Burroughs’ report are:
- Total refurbishment including the removal of the asbestos cement sheeting or encapsulating it.
- Stabilising the asbestos sheeting and refurbishing the building thereafter
- Selling the building as it but telling prospective buyers about the asbestos.
Mr. Burroughs says that though there are no regulations concerning properties with asbestos the Government has a moral obligation or “Duty of Care” to tell people about the presence of Asbestos in the building.
Though No. 3 was preferred, the paper was sent to EXCO for further consideration.
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