Flagging asbestos shame

Flagging asbestos shame

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East Cannington resident Desmond Bowers wants the asbestos flag to be placed on sites where the material is present.

East Cannington resident Desmond Bowers continues to battle against asbestos in the state and wants his asbestos flag to be recognised in places where the health and safety hazard is present.

The colours of the flag represent the materials of asbestos, blue for Crocidolite, white for Chrysotile and brown for Amosite.

“Western Australia has the highest mortality rate for Mesothelioma in the world,” he said.

“We shouldn’t be proud of it; we should be ashamed of it.

“Parents and children walk around it and they don’t seem to understand, that it doesn’t’ happen overnight.

“It is not like COVID-19 where within a fortnight you could die, this could take up to thirty years to develop until you die alone from it.

“The reason this is happening is because there are not enough people dying at once, they want more people to die and younger before they do anything.

“The people responsible who are moving the asbestos, councils, WorkSafe and the government they can wash their hands of it, because they won’t be there to answer.”

Mr Bowers who also creates YouTube videos on this issue, said he wants the asbestos flag to be free of copyright.

“I’ve never thought about making money out of this flag,” he said.

“I want everyone to be able to have access to it, and for it not to have any copyright.

“It should also never be fully up, because it is a flag of shame, most people have a flag of hope, but after 65 years people are still dying from Mesothelioma.

“I’ve put a bit of history now, it is not just a design, I’ve offered it to a few organisations, unions, councils and for everyone across the country who wants to place it near a spot that has asbestos.”

To see Mr Bower’s most recent video visit youtube.com/ watch?v=lcqyV7Teexc&feat ure=youtu.be.