40 Houses and in 40 Nights!

[Michael Alexander]

Well the shop floor is now full of folk whispering about the 40 houses allegedly going up for grabs in about 40 nights.... As mentioned on a previous posting by somebody, it would appear that OTMCO, on behalf of Namdeb, want to open up a tender process for interested partied to bid for the empty houses scattered along the length of 1st avenue.....

Apparently how it will work, is that Joe Soap, takes a walk down first avenue, see's an empty house, wanders around the structure , takes a fancy to the place, heads down to OTMCO's office, get's a tender form and then writes down the amount of $$$$$$ he is willing to pay for the said structure....

Then he seals his tender and hopes that nobody outbids his amount and he will then be awarded the house..... the house will then be his, although until we have proclamation , he will not be actually owning the erf he bought his house on.... he also will not own the mineral rights beneath it....

Now my 2 cents.....

1) If I buy the house, Will Namdeb no longer have the right to restrict how many folk I have living under my roof?

2) Is it true that these houses were built almost 50 years ago and are in  a sorry state?

3) Who will pay for my power and water meters to be installed once I have moved in?

4) How much will the rates be?

5) Is'nt asbestos roofing illegal?

6)  Is'nt asbestos water piping illegal?

7) If a Gemsbok wanders into my Privately owned Yard, can I shoot her to make biltong?

8) Will The NAMDEB security dept and PRU be able to search my private house without a warrant?


Sigh! SO many unanswered Questions, such little time...

Just my 2 cents.....

[Dalene Steenkamp (Coetzee)]

To add to the list of questions:

1. Will any 'outsiders' be allowed to tender or do you have to be employed by NAMDEB?
2. Are they going to allow companies to tender?
3. Will one person be allowed to buy more than one property?
4.  What about a municipality?
5.  Will there be reserve prices in relation to current market valuation on said properties?

[Sheena]

The Asbestos Regulations (2002) governs all work with Asbestos and asbestoscontaining
products. The requirements include notifying the Authorities before any
project has started, Information & Training of workers, Air Monitoring, Medical
Surveillance, control measures and procedures for safe disposal of asbestos.

Some common examples of asbestos in industry appear in the form of
corrugated roof sheeting, gutters, down-pipes, fascia boards, window-sills and
asbestos sheets. Sometimes they can even appear as gaskets or sheeting
used to manufacture gaskets.

We should have a plan of phasing out asbestos-containing materials. Shell's policy is not
to use any asbestos-containing material when replacing existing asbestos products.

[Michael Alexander]

Mmmh!

[SandyB]

Is  that  in your garden Mike ???     .... joking ... at least  you not had the repsonses you may have seen  on the IOL  thing I went onto ... boy I got  race card ,,, insults  etc ... seems my  open candid  information could not be faulted or argued  so  people  resort to ignorant  gutter behaviour ...

[Michael Alexander]

mmmh!

[Skinny]

For interest sake, when you buy a home you buy footstots, and I think the responsibility will be on the owner to check the asbestos thing, meters you pay for yourself like in any other town (I had to when I went from monthly pay elec and water to pre paid), and If I want to buy a house that is a "renovators dream" aka bring in the wrecking ball that is my choice and no one forces me to do it. So those that buy, buy at their own risk, and for the rest, who knows whether ten or twenty can live there, actually who cares as no one cares in the big cities or one where else for that manner. Personnaly I would buy one, the old sailing club, great location, great views and best of all it would be mine and take my chances with the valuation that the gov will ask me to pay for the erf. After all it can't be more expensive than land in Windhoek, can it?

[Malcolm Bertoni]

Other questions might be:

Why only 40 houses?
Why?

Which 40 houses?
Why?

Who and how will the evaluation be done?

If companies can buy the houses then you can be sure that prices will go up and then can then in principle sell these off later at higher prices.

Just my two bob's worth. . . .

Malcolm

[Michael Alexander]

These houses are up along the length of 1st Ave, they have been empty since the recession last year, the mine no longer needs the houses as they now operate with a smaller workforce.....

If the houses are to be sold to locals, one has to ask the question, why would a Namdeb employ want to buy a house and then pay rates whilst he currently receives free water. lights and gas?

Not fighting this, just putting some debate into the topic....

[Michael Alexander]

Received another one....

[Clive Symes]

Mike you may want to contact John Hall ( ex-Namdeb) as he had a sample of the roof sheeting used my the mine tested and I beleve that this tested positive for Crocodilite Seethe insert below  taken from the net.


UK Asbestos Regulations

by John Hill

Asbestos has been one of the most discussed health topics of the last few decades. This is due to the fact that asbestos emits invisible fibres that can have harmful effects on anyone who comes into contact with them for prolonged periods.

Research has shown that asbestos fibres are the catalyst for many diseases including Lung Cancer, Pleural Thickening and Mesothelioma. With this research in mind, and conclusive proof that asbestos kills, many governments from around the world have hastened to ban the usage of asbestos in any form. Many laws and legislations have been put in place to ensure that asbestos is not imported manufactured or used.

Like other governments from around the world, the UK government has taken steps to prohibit the usage of asbestos. Many laws have been passed for this purpose.

Below are some examples of the laws approved by the UK Government against the usage and import of asbestos into the country in any form.

- Asbestos (Licensing) Regulations (1983)
- Asbestos (Prohibition) Laws (1999)
- Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations (2002)
- Control of Asbestos Regulations (2006)

The Asbestos (Licensing) Regulations were put in place in 1983. The key features of these regulations being:

- To insure that all asbestos related insulating work is carried out by licensed asbestos contractors. This clause was added in 1998

- The contractors need to file an application at least 14 days prior to the day work is to commence for approval. The law was amended to include this clause in 2003

- The contractors need to follow certain terms and conditions which must be in accordance with the approved code of practice

- The Asbestos (Licensing) Regulations was replaced by Control of Asbestos Regulation in 2006

The Asbestos (Prohibition) Laws were implemented in 1999 and have the following key features:

- This law was actually accepted in 1985 and banned the use and import of Blue Asbestos (Crocodilite) and Brown Asbestos (Amosite).

- In 1999, this law was modified to include the prohibited usage of White Asbestos (Chrysotile).

- In 2002 the import of White Asbestos (Chrysotile) was banned and included in the law.

- In 2006 this law was replaced by Control of Asbestos Regulations.

2002 saw the implementation of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations. The following points offer a general overview of these regulations:

- These regulations set a limit to the amount of asbestos a person may be exposed to
- Conditions need to be completely controlled when work with asbestos is to take place. This was implemented in 1987
- The asbestos based materials in the construction need to be properly recognized
- In 1993 it was made law to replace asbestos based materials whenever and wherever possible
- In 2002 it was made necessary to properly manage and identify all asbestos related materials
- In 2006 this law was replaced by The Control of Asbestos Regulations

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 is the most recent and the most comprehensive collection of regulations approved by the UK government to date in their fight against asbestos related deaths.


source by: Isnar

[Michael Alexander]

Thanks Clive, will email John.....   

[toonfandangl]

Over in Australia we have had, and still having huge problems with asbestos, and one company stand out James Hardie.

No !........ I think I will pass on the upcoming house sales .....................


On Monday 26th October it was announced that James Hardie's compensation fund for victims of asbestos related diseases may run out by the middle of 2010.

While James Hardie and other companies stopped manufacturing asbestos building products a couple of decades ago, the death toll from asbestos is not over. It can take 40 years from the time of exposure for asbestos related diseases like mesothelioma to develop to and kill someone. Many people who are yet to die from mesothelioma don't even know they have it yet.

Asbestos can still be found in large numbers buildings and houses, and backyard sheds, throughout country. And asbestos fibres have also ended up under carpets in houses in the '50s, '60 and early 's70 because hessian bags which had been used to transport asbestos by James Hardie were recycled for use as carpet underlay .

Renovating houses and flats that were built before 1987 that contain asbestos can pose serious health risks if the asbestos is not dealt with properly.

In this story the Hungry Beast team looks back at the history of James Hardie and the suffering and death asbestos has brought to many Australians.

We join an asbestos removal team and see just how pervasive it can be in suburban Australia.

We hear from Jeanette Hennessy-Wright who was diagnosed with mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos when she was a child decades ago.

And we look at one of Australia's respected corporate leaders who ran James Hardie back in their asbestos producing years.


If you are concerned about potential exposure to asbestos and your health you can seek further information and advice from:

The Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia – phone: 1800 006 196
http://www.adfa.org.au 

The Asbestos Diseases Society of Australia – phone:  1800 646 690
http://www.asbestosdiseases.org.au

The Bernie Banton Foundation  – phone:  (02) 8850 1223
http://www.berniebanton.com.au


If you are concerned about home renovations and asbestos there is a website for renovators called: 
Think Asbestos

If you'd like to contact James Hardie their current CEO is Louis Gries and his telephone number in Amsterdam is:  0011 31 20 301 2980

[SandyB]

My take on the asbestos  roofing ... its  coated on the  outside with many layers of paint ,, so  there is little chance of  the firbres  sloughing off ..  technically  the inside layer not being exposed to the outside elements  should be pretty stable . and anyhow its in the ceiling space ,,, unless of course  one  chose to  live in the ceiloing space ,,,  where the danger comes in  is messing or cutting the asbestos sheeting ..  then you gonna be releasing  fibres ...  If I bought a place  with a well maintained ie painted  on the outside  asbestos  roof .. I would leave it be   unless told to remove it  by some regulator ...   and if I was really concerned I  would engage someone  to give a binding spray  on the inside ....
The   danger of  asbestos  has been to the  people  directly involved in the mining thereof , and in the  close vicinity of the mines ...  daily breathing the airborne  fibre laden dust ...   for  those that have  asbestos gutters , well maintained  ie painted on the outside  and sometimes on the inside ..  even not painted on the inside .. there is enough gunge ie moss  etc that has alredy lined the inner  surfaces ...  again ,, if you gonna be  messsing with it   , sawing it  or whatever ...  be very careful ,,  use a  ww2 gas mask

[Michael Alexander]

Sources have informed me that the majority of the asbestos in the roofing is termed as "Blue" Asbestos....

Must research this a bit further..... seems like the Union had a handle on this tale back in the 80's....... where's the old timer's when you need them.....TOM!


Seems the Abestos is fine, as long as it's  not cut or broken up, releasing the fibres  into the air....