Former Prime Minister Alfred Sant said today in Brussels that the European Commission has now omitted giving a dateline for the abandonment of the Jean Monnet Building in Luxembourg leased to the EC which houses 1,700 employees, 50 of whom are Maltese nationals, all of whom are directly exposed to the presence of asbestos. The Commission confirmed that as of today, 4 cases of asbestos exposure have been recognised as professional illnesses among Commission employees stationed in the Jean Monnet Building. Reacting to the Commission’s statement, Dr. Sant said that the EC is taking too long to deal with the asbestos problem at Jean Monnet. ‘It should have set the example by putting as its topmost priority the safeguarding of its employees.’ Dr. Sant said that he will asking the Commission for a definite dateline for the abandonment of the Jean Monnet Building and that he will continue to follow the matter very closely.
The Commission answered Dr. Sant’s concerns six months later, when it is the norm for the Commission to answer PQs not later than six weeks after receipt of the PQs. Dr. Sant had asked on 8 December 2014 why it took the Commission 20 years to move its employees out of the JeanMonnet Building and whether a definite date had been set by which the Commission plans to have moved moved all its employees from the building. He also asked how many cases of asbestos exposure had been recognised among Commission employees in the building.
EC Vice President Kristalina Georgieva said that like most buildings of the 1970s, the Jean Monnet building contains a number of asbestos applications, which did not present identified risks until recently. During the summer of 2013, an incident took place in the Print Shop during maintenance work, which resulted in a release of asbestos fibres. In the light of this incident, the Commission proceeded with an update of the asbestos inventory, which was then completed in November 2013. The main outcome of this update was that a certain form of asbestos present in the JMO had to be considered in the future as brittle due to ageing problems. Several in depth studies were conducted, leading to the decision to abandon the building. This decision was taken by the EC in July 2014 in agreement with the Luxembourgish authorities.
Georgevia said that immediately after the EC decision to abandon the building was taken in mid-July 2014, all services started to work, in close cooperation with the Luxembourgish authorites, in order to identify alternative buildings to relocate the staff present in the JMO. The EC has progressed in identifying the premises for this relocation as well negotiating the cost-sharing and organisational modalities of this operation together with the Luxembourgish authorities. The objective is to leave the building as soon as possible and all possible efforts are deployed to accelerate that process.
Maltese Version
ALFRED SANT JITLOB DATA DEFINITTIVA BIEX JINGĦALAQ BINI ESPOST GĦALL-ASBESTOS
Alfred Sant qal fi Brussell li se jinsisti mal-Kummissjoni Ewropea għal data definittiva għall-għeluq tal-bini Jean Monnet fil-Lussemburgu fejn 1,700 impjegat, 50 minnhom Maltin, qed jaħdmu f’periklu kontinwu għal saħħithom minħabba l-presenza tal-asbestos. Il-Kummissjoni Ewropea ikkonfermat li sal-lum kienu hemm erba’ każijiet ta’ esponiment għall-asbestos li ġew rikonoxxuti bħala mard professjonali fost impjegati tal-Kummissjoni stazzjonati fil-binja Jean Monnet. B’reazzjoni għar-risposta tal-KE, Alfred Sant qal li l-KE qed tieħu fit-tul wisq biex tittratta l-problema tal-asbestos f’Jean Monnet. ‘Il-KE għandha tagħti eżempju u tagħmel bħala priorita’ is-saħħa tal-impjegati tagħha. Se nkompli nsegwi dan mill-qrib’, saħaq Dr. Sant.
Il-KE wieġbet mistoqsijiet li kien għamel Dr. Sant fit-8 ta’ Diċembru 2014 dwar dan il-periklu, sitt xhur wara. Normalment il-KE tieħu massimu ta’ 6 ġimgħat biex twieġeb mistoqsijiet tal-MEPs. Dr. Sant qal li kienet tal-mistħija li l-KE kellha ddum daqstant biex tagħti tweġiba. Dr. Sant kien staqsa għala l-KE damet 20 sena biex toħroġ l-impjegati minn dan il-bini u staqsa għal data definittiva biex jinħarġu l-impjegati mill-perikli tal-asbestos. Dr. Sant kien staqsa wkoll kemm impjegati instabu li kienu effettwati mill-asbestos.
Il-Viċi President tal-KE Kristalina Georgieva qalet lil Dr. Sant li bħall-biċċa l-kbira tal-binjiet tas-sebgħinijiet, il-bini Jean Monnet fih għadd ta’ applikazzjonijiet tal-asbestos, li ma kinux jippreżentaw riskji identifikati sa ftit ilu. Matul is-sajf tal-2013, seħħ inċident fil-Ħanut tal-Istamperija matul xogħol ta’ manutenzjoni, li rriżulta f’rilaxx ta’ fibri tal-asbestos. Fid-dawl ta’ dan l-inċident, il-Kummissjoni pproċediet b’aġġornament tal-inventarju tal-asbestos, li tlesta f’Novembru 2013. Ir-riżultat prinċipali ta’ dan l-aġġornament kien li ċertu forma ta’ asbestos preżenti fil-bini kellu fil-futur jitqies bħala fraġli minħabba ż-żmien li għadda minn fuqu. Saru diversi studji profondi, li wasslu għad-deċiżjoni li l-bini għandu jiġi abbandunat. Din id-deċiżjoni ttieħdet mill-KE f’Lulju 2014 bi ftehim mal-awtoritajiet tal-Lussemburgu.
Georgieva qalet li immedjatament wara li ttieħdet id-deċiżjoni tal-KE biex jiġi abbandunat il-bini f’nofs Lulju 2014, is-servizzi kollha bdew jaħdmu, f’kooperazzjoni mill-qrib mal-awtoritajiet Lussemburgiżi, sabiex jidentifikaw bini alternattiv għar-rilokazzjoni tal-impjegati preżenti fil-bini. Il-KE għamlet progress fl-identifikazzjoni ta’ bini għal din ir-rilokazzjoni kif ukoll fl-innegozjar tal-qsim tal-ispejjeż u tal-modalitajiet ta’ organizzazzjoni ta’ din l-operazzjoni flimkien mal-awtoritajiet Lussemburgiżi. L-għan huwa li l-bini jiġi abbandunat mill-aktar fis possibbli u qed isiru l-isforzi kollha possibbli biex jitħaffef dan il-proċess.
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