THE VICINITY of NCCC Mall Davao which was burned down last December 23, killing 38 people emits foul odor.
According to Dr. Abdullah Dumama, Department of Health (DOH) assistant secretary and DOH 11 regional director, expressed fears that the unpleasant smell might adversely affect the health of the people in the area who constantly inhale it. The fire scene is just adjacent to a housing community, called the DBP Subdivision, inhabited by retired officials and employees of the Development Bank of the Philippines and their heirs.
“I think meron talaga, kasi chemical materials that are not suitable for inhalation mag kakaroon ng effect yan,” he said in an interview at the sideline of the ground breaking ceremony of a new building of the Bureau of Quarantine along R. Magsaysay Avenue in Davao City last Friday, January 12.
Dumama said his office will seek the assistance of experts of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to look into the matter.
Much of the materials burnt inside the ill-fated mall are made of plastics. Burnt plastic materials produce dioxin, a deadly chemical which can emitted to the atmosphere and also penetrate event plants and the food chain. Dioxin is carcinogenic, a term given to materials and elements that cause cancer.
He assured the public that if there is an impact that would require for the DOH’s intervention then they are ready to help.
