Channel 9 raises the reality of implementing the Wittenoom Closure Bill - is it possible given the issues of the last attempt at closure?
1. Who will do the clean up?
2. When will it be done?
3. How much will it cost?
On 4 November 1992, the Hon Ernie Bridge MLA, Minister for the North-West announced that the Government would continue its policy to phase-down activity in Wittenoom and demolish all Government-owned buildings there, including the Fortescue Hotel. This role cost Mr Bridge his life (31/3/2013) contracting deadly mesothelioma from visiting Wittenoom in the 1990s.
We believe it is of the most urgent priority to educate the younger generations as well as local, interstate and overseas visitors on Wittenoom - its death toll (which continues today) and the dangers of the region. Given the urgency to save lives the ADSA respectfully suggests the next step should be to design and build sensitive, accessible and prominent memorials to Australia’s worst industrial disaster.
These memorials would be a:
meaningful deterrent for those tempted to visit the region (if you don’t want to find your name on the memorial in 30 years)
peaceful place where loved ones could visit, reflect, and pay their respects for their loved ones and friends
formal acknowledgement of the Wittenoom workers and their families unwittingly exposed in their desire to earn a living
reminder to corporations not to ignore the safety of the communities in which they operate
5 окт 2024
