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Bangladeshi ship breakers harm environment, abuse workers

Caritas and others accuse the billion dollar industry of ignoring regulations
Bangladeshi ship breakers harm environment, abuse workers

A worker walks near a giant ship being scrapped at a yard in Chittagong, southeastern Bangladesh in 2013. (ucanews.com photo)

Published: November 10, 2016 10:35 AM GMT
Updated: November 10, 2016 10:42 AM GMT

Bangladeshi officials, activists and Caritas have joined together to denounce the country's ship breaking companies who, they said, violate regulations, harm workers and the environment.

So far this year 190 old ships arrived in the southeastern port city of Chittagong for deconstruction and recycling, but none of the ship-breaking companies have sought a mandatory environmental clearance certificate, according to the country's Department of Environment.

"To import an old ship, the company needs to get permission from the industries ministry first, then it is supposed to get a clearance certificate from the environment department after a thorough inspection," Masud Karim, Chittagong regional director of the Department of Environment, told ucanews.com.

"It seems the owners haven't bothered to get environmental clearance."

The US$1.3 billion ship breaking industry has been criticized for polluting a beach and the sea around Chittagong with asbestos, lead and arsenic. Working conditions are so poor that hundreds of employees have died in the past decades.

Attempts to regulate the industry have failed continuously owing to their political and financial muscle, said James Gomes, director of the Chittagong regional office of Caritas, the Catholic Church's social action agency.

"The owners are so powerful that they can even ignore the government and flout rules for environment protection and worker safety," Gomes told ucanews.com.

Over the years, Caritas has tried to realize worker safety and rights unsuccessfully, he said.

"The government needs to be strong, so it can take legal action when the industry does anything detrimental to the environment, health or workers' rights," Gomes added.

There are 147 companies employing about 50,000 workers who dissect old ships with blowtorches, sledgehammers and their bare hands for less than US$3 per day.

It's most unfortunate that ship breaking companies are ignoring environmental regulations, said Muhammad Ali, an organizer from Chittagong-based watchdog, Young Power in Social Action.

"In Bangladesh, one needs to get environmental clearance for setting up a small market or hospital but a hazardous industry like ship breaking does not bother," Ali told ucanews.com.

"It has disastrous impacts, workers get life-threatening diseases, the water and environment is extremely polluted and the disappearance of fish stocks have jeopardized the lives of the local fishing community."

"Ship breaking companies say they follow industrial law, but the environment department complains about rule violations. We must have someone to hold accountable for environmental and health hazards, so the government can bring this industry under control," he added.  

Mohsin Chowdhury, managing director of PHP Group that owns the second-largest ship breaking yard, denied any wrongdoing.

"When a ship is imported for demolishing, an inspector from the environment department checks it and offers a certificate. Then, we apply for permission from the industries ministry to cut it down," Chowdhury, a member of the Bangladesh Ship Breakers' Association, told ucanews.com.

"There is no need for another round of thorough inspections and clearance from the same department. We abide by the law and we don't do anything that pollutes the environment or causes harm to human health," he added.   

Amid pressure from rights groups and environmental campaigners, the government drafted the Bangladesh Ship Recycling Act 2015, which stipulates stringent rules for workers' safety, conservation and protection of the environment.

The bill is yet to pass in parliament. Critics have said the Bangladesh Ship Breakers Association, the trade body of the industry, is using its financial and political clout to delay and water down the bill.

 

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