Bangladesh cleaning up its shipbreaking act

The new zone for ship-breaking yards will be situated at Sitakunda in Chittagong. At the same time the government will introduce greater regulation for better environmental and safety standards.;

Hassan Mahmud, state minister for environment, said a meeting between officials of the environment and forest, industries and shipping ministries will be held soon to discuss establishment of the zone. “Ship-breaking yards will not be allowed to operate in a scattered way along the coast,” Mahmud said.

The minister was talking to reporters after visiting the accident-hit Rahim Steel and Ship Yard at Madam Bibirhat in Sitakunda. On Saturday, four men died and 10 received injuries in an explosion on a ship that was being broken up. Lethal accidents commonly occur at ship-breaking yards due to extremely hazardous working conditions with little oversight.

The new zone for ship-breaking will also help prevent grabbing of coastal land and felling of trees for the purpose of shipbreaking, Mahmud said. The Sitakunda and Sonaichhari area on the coast has recently seen nearly 2,000 trees felled illegally. The minister said that whoever owns forestland along the coast will not be allowed to cut trees without the approval of authorities concerned.

Keeping in view the hazards of ship-breaking, worker safety and the interest of yard owners, the government is framing a policy in coordination labour, industries, environment and shipping ministries. It is hoped that, when the ship-breaking industry becomes regulated, the casualty rate in the yards will come down. The minister also warned that the owners of ship-breaking yards will face the consequences of doing harm to the environment, whether through deforestation or pollution from toxic wastes when dismantling ships.