Bangladesh: ShipBreaking stagnant amid environmental concerns

Waste oil collection pit inside the ShipBreaking yard

(Photo credit - Dr. Tridib Ghose)

State Minister for Environment and Forest Dr Hasan Mahmud said this week a vested interest group was trying to create an iron market in Bangladesh for foreign companies by shutting down the country's promising shipbreaking industry.

Regretting the move, he compared the situation with the 'evil genie'. Addressing a workshop organized by the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industries (CCCI), the minister said a stagnant situation is now prevailing in the ship-breaking industry due to many reasons. He said the government wants to help keep this promising sector alive and vibrant but, of course, after ensuring protection of the environment. Shutting down the ship-breaking industry is not a solution, he added.

In fact, there is no disagreement with the minister's contention. In spite of sincere efforts of the government, ship-breaking industry is still going through so many hazards. The High Court issued a number of directives for the ship breaking yards but the owners seldom comply with the same. The ship breakers are making the environment more vulnerable by bringing in abandoned ships loaded with asbestos which is very harmful for public health. There is no proper monitoring of the enforcement of the court directives.

Coastal green belt in Sitakunda, Chittagong has been plundered indiscriminately for setting up ship-breaking yards. Accidents are occurring there often causing loss of valuable lives. Many question as to why the ship-breaking should be allowed to flourish at the cost of environment. Why is not stern action being taken against the plunderers of trees and environment?

After much foot-dragging, the government has, of late, formulated Ship Dismantling Waste and Hazardous Waste Management Rules and forwarded the same to the Ministry of Law for vetting. The policy aims at ensuring that ship-breaking industry can operate without polluting the environment. It (government) is working to establish a separate zone for this industry. Apparently, the government does not want to close down the ship-breaking industry as there is a fear in many circles that it would turn the country into a market for foreign iron-mongers.

On its part, the government said import of scrapped ships has been allowed over the last few months with importers requiring to obtain clearance certificates to the effect that the ships do not carry any harmful substances. Through issuing a statutory regulatory order (SRO), the government amended the import policy that makes it mandatory for ship importers to submit pre-cleaning certificates for ship imports. A certificate ensures that a ship, which is going to enter the country's maritime territory, does not contain toxic elements.

After enforcement of the SRO, ship breakers association called a strike at the ship breaking yards and also stopped the supply of scrap to the re-rolling mills, saying the labour intensive sector would lose global competitiveness if the SRO is enforced. The ship breakers remain steadfast in their demands to cancel a policy that denies the entry of ships with toxic elements. The environmentalists are viewing this as an acid test for the government's firmness to save the environment.

The ship breakers are the major suppliers of scrap to re-rolling mills in Bangladesh. They said it was not possible to manage a pre-cleaning certificate from the ship owners as ownership changes from time to time. They argued that as a ship moves from sea to sea, it would be difficult for an owner to clean the ship at a given time. The whole process might make ship-breaking costly for Bangladesh and shift the business away, they warned. Besides, they alleged that they had to pay a hefty amount as bribers to the high-ups in the government for obtaining clearance certificates.

The ship breakers view the campaign against them as an international conspiracy to harm the prospective ship breaking industry of Bangladesh. As ship breaking is becoming an emerging economically viable sector here, some European countries are allegedly conspiring to destroy it, they added. If the country prospers in ship-breaking, the Europeans will not be required to send scraps here any more.

Lambasting ship-breakers for their dubious role in sea and environment pollution, environmentalists welcomed the SRO and urged the government not to succumb to pressure from the breakers. They said no ship breaking yard in Chittagong has any environmental clearance to operate and they discharge different toxic elements into the seas and cause damage to marine life.

In the absence of a proper policy, the ship breaking industry is on the verge of collapse. In that case, the government revenue may also suffer because the ship-breaking industry provides substantial amounts of money, in the form of in duty, to government coffers. With this money, the government may provide proper training facilities to the workers. The irony of the fact is that, after purchasing a ship the owners hand the ship over to contractors who dismantle them by engaging workers. Although the overall responsibility lies with the industry, the safety of workers depends on the training and the equipment provided by the contractors.

The safety of the workers and pollution-free atmosphere are of utmost importance in the context of Bangladesh. Yet it is also important to keep the ship-breaking industry of Bangladesh alive. If this industry closes for any reason, it could cause the collapse of other industries that depend on it.

The campaign to protect the environment and lives of workers is certainty commendable. But it will also be foolhardy to ignore the economic value of an industry, only on consideration of some factors that are beyond its control.

Source: The Financial Express. Friday, 04 February 2011

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