One of the three companies which is looking to work on the removal and disposal of asbestos stored in the former power station in Kordin does not include a specific asbestos insurance cover for employees and residents who might suffer the effects of the inhalation of the potentially life-threatening substance as a result of the works undertaken.

Experts in the field of asbestos removal told this newspaper that three companies, one of which is Italian, have jointly won the tender, sub-divided into three lots, issued by Enemalta recently to carry out the asbestos removal works at Kordin.

The experts noted that the tender document requested insurance cover that is too generic and open to interpretation, rather than a specific asbestos insurance cover.

A discrepancy between government entities has also been noticed when comparing the Kordin power station tender with other tenders issued recently for removal of asbestos material at other sites around the country, the experts said.

“A number of projects have taken place throughout the years without asbestos insurance, although not on a large scale project such as this. In certain cases, the authorities were more specific in their tender with regard to asbestos insurance,” one expert told this newspaper.

Asbestos is dangerous when it is dispersed into the air as very small fibres that are invisible to the naked eye. Breathing in those asbestos fibres can lead to one of two main diseases: asbestosis, a scarring of the lung tissue or lung cancer.

The microscopic fibres can cause a build-up of scar-like tissue in the lungs and result in loss of lung function, usually several decades, later.

Although the production of asbestos containing products or materials has ceased in the EU, there is still a risk of exposure to asbestos from the materials and products that are still in buildings, plants and equipment.

A number of former Malta Shipyards employees asked for compensation following their ill health allegedly caused by asbestos a few decades ago, where asbestos was a staple material present in large quantities and used without effective control.

Last year, Malta Shipyards was ordered by the Court of Appeals to pay over €103,000 in damages to a family for failing to provide the required safety measures against asbestos, which led to the death of Joseph Fenech, a 55-year-old worker who died in 1997 from a serious case of mesothelioma.