Open letter addressed to Minister of Housing, Shakeel Mohamed on the urgent replacement of asbestos houses

22.01.2025

Today LALIT sent an open letter to the Hon. Shakeel Mohamed on the urgent replacement of asbestos houses.

See content of the letter below.

Dear Hon Shakeel Mohamed,

LALIT addresses you this letter as Minister for Housing and Lands about asbestos housing that continues putting the health and lives of residents who live in them because they do not have the means to replace these toxic houses. As you probably know, these houses were built after Carol cyclone in 1960 all over the island of Mauritius to provide emergency housing quickly. These toxic houses were eventually sold to inhabitants as from the late 1980’s. When inhabitants got to know of the dangers, those with the means to replace such dangerous housing were able to do so. Those without the means were left with asbestos housing that had degraded over time and had become all the more dangerous as they started becoming crumbly and powdery, with all the health risks of cancer, asbestosis (a scarring of the lung tissue) and mesothelioma (cancer of the lining of the lung cavity).

After some 20 years of struggle of inhabitants of asbestos housing together with LALIT, in December 2019, Housing Minister Obeegadoo wrote to LALIT to ask us for a brief on how to proceed with the replacement of asbestos housing which we promptly sent (See attachment 1). Finally in 2022, Rs 800 million was voted by Parliament to replace asbestos housing within a two-year period. The Ministry announced that Rs5,000 would be provided for families to rent a place to live while their house was being replaced. Inhabitants of asbestos housing were given hope that finally, their health and lives meant something to the State.

In 2020, a special unit within the NHDC was set up to organise this: there was a technical survey by the Ministry to organise how to replace asbestos housing. The Ministry announced that asbestos housing region by region would be replaced starting with Goodlands and Bambous. In 2024, when inhabitants together with LALIT had a meeting with the NHDC about why replacement was taking so long, we were told that housing would be replaced in batches of 10, and that they were waiting for the selected 10 families in each of these two regions to get their affidavits. At this rate, the replacement of asbestos housing, an emergency situation, would take years (See attachment 2). This, we realised, was a delaying tactic: In these two years, not even one asbestos house has been replaced. We had specifically asked for a timetable of when houses in each area would be replaced so that inhabitants could prepare in advance for this. This never came to be.

Meanwhile, inhabitants without the means to replace the asbestos house that the State sold to them, are compelled to continue living in a toxic house that endangers their health and lives.

We propose a meeting with you together with LALIT and delegates of asbestos housing from different site EDC across the island to discuss how you propose to replace asbestos housing as quickly as possible given that it is a question of public health in these areas.

We are also attaching an outline on LALIT’s actions over the past 23 years together with asbestos housing inhabitants. (See attachment 3).

Yours sincerely,

Rada Kistnasamy and Rajni Lallah

for LALIT

(Attachment 1)

LALIT emailed this dossier to Housing Minister Obeegadoo on 9 December, 2019:

(1) Dosye lor sityasyon aktyel ranplasman lakaz lamyant

Guvernman finn dakor pu demantel lakaz lamyant (get Anex 1 ki montre langazman ki Minister Sekirite Sosyal ek Lanvironnman finn pran), me pankor ena okenn plan pu guvernman ranplas lakaz lamyant ki li pe demantle. Sel lof guvernman se pu pey lokasyon ziska Rs 5,000 par mwa pandan 1 an pu dimunn ki so lakaz lamyant finn demoli ek swa Building Materials Grant, swa Roof Slab grant (enn grant ki tu dimunn ki tus anba Rs 20,000 ti kapav gayne detutfason). Let-la fer li kler ki ranplasman lakaz lamyant, li pa pu lor sarz guvernman. Se abitan lakaz lamyant ki bizin pran sarz ranplasman lakaz-la.

Anfet guvernman ti fini pran langazman pu ranplas lakaz lamyant (Anex 2 – Repons Minis Lanvironnman dan Parlman 17 Novam, 2015, Hansard No. 40/2015). Se Minis Lozman ki ti an-sarz plan rekonstriksyon lakaz, me li pa ti prezant okenn plan.

Tu rapor ofisyel ki finn rann piblik dir ki se guvernman ki ena responsabilite pu ranplas lakaz lamyant:

1. Rapor Ombudsperson pu Zanfan 2017-2018 (Anex 3)

2. Rapor Truth and Justice Commission 2011, Volim 1 (Anex 4)

3. Rapor Dr. Sibartie, Minister Lasante 2006 (Anex 5)

Li anfet pa osi konplike ki sa. Minister Lozman ena zis pu kol notis lor lakaz lamyant pu donn notis ki li pe kase e ranplase apartir tel dat lor baz danze a lasante piblik e invit dimunn ki ena kit obzeksyon pu vinn Minister. Li anmemtan pibliye kalandriye landrwa par landrwa pu abitan kone kan pu ena demolisyon ek ranplasman lakaz dan so landrwa. Abitan ti deza fini fer konplint CAB apre 2yem Manifestasyon konzwin LALIT-Abitan Lakaz Lamyant an Oktob 2018, alor CAB deza ena enn lalist abitan konserne.

Minister Lozman bizin fer enn plan pu rekonstriksyon lakaz mem grander avek lakaz existan me li bizin asire ki finn fer lafuy apropriye pu fondasyon ek pu kul baz. E lerla li prosed a rekonstriksyon lakaz selon so kalandriye.

(Attachment 2)

Minits Rankont Ofisye Responsab pu plan Ranplasman Lakaz Lamyant

Mardi 6 Zin, 2023 9am, NHDC dan NexTeracom Tower no. 1, Ebene

Prezan:

Pu NHDC – Vijay Naraidoo ek Surendra Museliah

Pu Abitan Lakaz Lamyant:

Goodlands: Guy Sylvio

La Ferme: Shanti Marc ek Madam de Novembre

Henrietta: Roger Husseiny

Pu LALIT – Alain Ah-Vee ek Rajni Lallah

Rapor NHDC kot finn arive kote ranplasman lakaz lamyant

Vijay Naraidoo finn explike ki sa rankont-la li swit a let ki LALIT finn avoy Minis Lozman pu dimann li ki pe ariv plan ranplasman lakaz lamyant. Li finn explike ki:

1. Depi Oktob-Novam 2022, ofisye NHDC ek Minister Lozman finn al lor tu bann sayt dan pei kot ena lakaz lamyant pu fer enn resansman;

2. Dan Goodlands, La Ferme, Henrietta ek Dubreuil, finn pran mezir pu konpran kimanyer pu ranplas lakaz;

3. Dan Goodlands, La Ferme, Henrietta, Dubreuil finn selekte 8-12 fami ki zot lakaz pu ranplase. Seki pa ti ankor fer afidavit, NHDC finn organiz transpor e fre noter pu ki fer afidavit. Ena abitan ki pankor sumet papye neseser pu ki fer afidavit;

Kan fini fer afidavit bizin pran mizir ki bizin pu nuvo lakaz. NHDC fini pran mizir dan Laferme. Aster zot pe al Goodlands.

4. Ena 2 dizaynn pu ranplasman lakaz ki bizin ariv a 60m2. Kot lespas tro restrin, finn fer enn dizaynn 30m2 kot ena letaz;

5. Ena abitan deza ena lespas kot zot finn mont an-beton akote seki vedir zot pa bizin lokasyon Rs5,000 ki inkli dan plan ranplasman lakaz e ena ki bizin sa lokasyon-la an-atandan ki ranplas zot lakaz lamyant.

6. Prosesis demolisyon organize par seksyon Solid Waste Management Minister Lanvironnman pran 2 mwa, lerla bizin rod permi konstriksyon (BLUP), rod kontrakter lerla prosed a ranplasman alor prosesis-la pu pran apepre 9 mwa;

7. Reinyon explikasyon pu abitan pe kontinye e fek fer enn dan Souillac kot ti invit abitan Batimarais, Camp Diable e Bois Cheri osi.

Propozisyon kote delege abitan Goodlands, La Ferme, Henrietta e delege LALIT

Delege ek Reprezantan LALIT prezan finn fer bann pwin e propozisyon swivan:

1. Etan done pena desizyon Kabine Minis u mem kominike Minister ofisyel u mem deklarasyon ofisyel Minis Lozman ki pu ranplas lakaz lamyant; etan done ki bidze 2023-2024 finn mansyonn zis “Removal and Rehabilitation of ex-CHA houses”, li pa kler ki pe ariv sa plan ranplasman lakaz lamyant.

Ofisye CAB e PPS pa okuran ki ena plan ranplasman lakaz lamyant alor suvan zot dir ki ena ZIS plan pu retir lakaz lamyant ek sibsid NHDC pu materyo rekonstriksyon dal ziska Rs100,000. MBC TV so reportaz lor rankont dan sirkonskripsyon no. 14 ki nu finn fer mansyon dan nu let, li enn lexanp.

Etan done plan-la, li lor 2 an, 1 an fini pase e pankor ena ranplasman okenn lakaz, tu abitan byin

trakase ki pa pu ariv ziska ranplasman lakaz lamyant;

Alor nu propoz enn kominike ofisyel Minister pu ki ofisyaliz sa plan ranplasman lakaz lamyant-la ek enn kalandriye pu abitan kone kimanyer sa plan ranplasman-la pu konkretize dan lapratik kumsa abitan tu landrwa kapav fini gayn letan planifye;

2. Li pa rezonab pu tard plan ranplasman lakaz lamyant akoz ena dimunn ki pena papye. Alor kan abitan pe tarde, pran lot ki an-mezir fer afidavit tuzur e anmemtan, etan done pena kriter klas lor kimanyer pe swazir sa premye dizenn fami ki zot lakaz pu ranplase.

Nu propoz ki ena kriter an-ord priyorite kler:

a) Kot ena dimunn ki ena problem lasante liye a lamyant – problem respiratwar u kanser u problem alerzi;

b) Ki so lakaz li zis ena lamyant setadir li pa finn kapav azut lasam an-beton;

c) Ki pli aze pu ki evit ki gayn plis problem pu fer afidavit.

Lakor ki finn sorti dan rankont

Vijay Naraidoo finn pran langazman dan rankont ki:

1. Li pu chek sa item bidze “Removal and Rehabilitation of ex-CHA houses” pu gete sipa li inklir ranplasman lakaz;

2. Li pu fer enn rankont avek tu ofisye CAB e PPS pu explik zot lor plan ranplasman lakaz;

3 a) Ki li dakor ki pa kapav tarde akoz pe atann dimunn amenn papye ki manke pu fer afidavit e ki bizin pran lot abitan ki an-mezir fer afidavit tuzur.

b) Li finn osi dir ki NHDC pu konsider sa 3 kriter ki nu finn propoze lor lekel ranplas lakaz abitan an priyorite dorenavan, me ki abitan ki fini mezir so lakaz, pa pu kapav met aryer e retir li lor lalist.

4. Li pu inform LALIT osito ki li gayn linformasyon osize desizyon ki pran lor tu sa bann kestyon-la.

Abitan lakaz lamyant kapav kontakte li uswa Surendra Museliah NHDC lor 468-7020 pu gayn plis ranseynman.

Minits RL/AA e Verifye par VN ek SM pu NHDC

(Attachment 3)

Outline in brief of LALIT’s actions

2002- The Addison report called for urgent removal of EDC asbestos housing

2002- Petition organised by LALIT starting in the South.

2006- Dr R. Sibartie, Head of Health Ministry’s Occupational Health Unit concluded in a report that the asbestos

panels in the Housing Estates will have to be replaced by Government.

2011- The Truth and Justice Commission Report stated the asbestos houses are damaging to Health and should be

pulled down phase to phase and re-constructed with proper Material.

2015- Minister of Housing, Hon. S. Soodhun issued a communique announcing a major plan to replace asbestos

housing.

2018- Two demonstration in Port-louis organised by 50 Joint Committees- LALIT-Inhabitants in July and October.

Letters signed by 340 inhabitants were addressed to Prime Minister Jugnauth to request him to put a time-frame for

dismantling and replacing the dangerous asbestos houses.

2022- Letter addressed to Hon. Obeegadoo in June after budget allocation of Rs 800M to request him to set a Time-

Frame and regional desks on a regional basis.

2022- Mr V.Naraidoo in charge of Asbestos Unit at NHDC in September inform us in a meeting that work for

removing asbestos houses will start at Cite, Ste Claire , Goodlands and Cite Laferme, Bambous and then will be

extended to other regions after.

2023- In May a Letter was addressed to Minister Obeegadoo asking for a follow-up meeting. No reply.

2024- Mr Naraidoo no longer heading the asbestos housing unit at NHDC. New officer in charge unable to explain where matters stand concerning removing and replacing asbestos houses.