Macau (MNA) – Contradictions are emerging in the accounts about instructions and administrative procedures deployed to safeguard the health of students of the Macau Anglican College in Taipa following the removal of toxic materials from a warehouse opposite the school facilities.
According to information provided to Macau News Agency (MNA) by a source concerned in the matter, the information provided to us by the school on Monday is ‘misleading.’
On January 29, Anglican College principal Robert Alexander told MNA that the school had not received ‘prior notification about the removal of asbestos roof sheeting material at the construction storage in question.’
Still on Monday, the head of the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ), Kong Chi Meng, told media that the removal works had taken place on January 18 and 19, being halted only after the Bureau had received calls on January 21 (Sunday) from parents worried about possible contamination of the students.
The removal works, then being conducted in the largest of the three structures that compose the warehouse facility as part of its demolition procedure, had been performed illegally, according to information provided by the Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) on Tuesday.
It is not clear how parents learned about the removal works being conducted on the warehouse site prompting calls to the DSEJ but our source claims that parents of students enrolled in the school were only notified by the school management of the situation a few days later, at the end of the school day on January 22 (Monday).
‘The school’s management knew about the removal of one of the roofing structures containing asbestos on or before January 19,’ our source claimed, adding ‘they should have notified parents of the potential risk with utmost urgency.’
The source further states that the school’s response was rather ‘reactive’ after about half of the students were absent from class this Monday, as the principal of the school himself told us that same day.
MNA contacted the school yesterday and was informed that classes have actually been suspended on Tuesday and today.
Earlier on Tuesday, the DSPA announced in a press release that preliminary air quality test results in the area surrounding Macau Anglican College registered no abnormalities.
Concerns raised by our source point to the exposure of staff and students to ‘horrific health risks.’
Mr. Alexander also said on Monday that the school had ‘raised concerns regarding the health of students and teachers as well as the communities surrounding the school.’
