DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh's Supreme Court has recalled a lower court's ruling last week that allowed shipbreaking yards to continue operating through October, and should conduct its own review of the case on Thursday, a senior industry official said.
The lower court last week gave the $1.5 billion ship recycling industry one more three months to satisfy tougher safety and environmental rules on importing old ships to dismantle for scrap.
"The Supreme Court has recalled the file from the High Court for review on July 28," Captain Salah Uddin, an adviser of the Bangladesh Ship Breakers Association, told Reuters on Tuesday.
"The govt. hopes the choice of the High Court can be upheld by the Supreme Court."
Rights activists have urged the court to reinstate a year-long ban at the industry, saying its activities remained too dangerous for employees and too costly for our environment. The ban was lifted in March.
The High Court lifted the ban after industry vowed to adopt strict rules to give protection to workers, which includes an age limit of no less than 18, training and correct safety gear, and cleansing of toxic material from ships ahead of arrival.
Scrapped ships are the most important source of steel for the impoverished nation, which requires around 4 million tonnes every year.
(Reporting by Serajul Quadir; Writing by Randy Fabi; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
Source: Blue Planet News (Sourced from Reuters). Tuesday, 26 July 2011
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