Proceed with caution
It is with more than a little bit of
concern that we read the report, which appeared in this newspaper on Monday,
about the government's plan to allow setting up of a new ship breaking yard in
Barguna district on the banks of the Baleshwar. Perhaps the compulsion of the
government to earmark new areas, given the way the industry has expanded, is
understandable. And we also understand that the report of the committee set up
in this regard is all but ready; however, the downside of the issue should not
be overlooked.
There is no doubt that shipbreaking industry,
or ship recycling yards as many term it, is linked with our construction
industry, and any impediment to its growth is likely to have more than a ripple
effect on the country's economy. But what concerns us is the blatantly
unchecked way the industry has expanded, based on scrap ships with hazardous
chemicals finding their way into the breaking yards. This has had the most
severe impact on the ecology and the health of the workers. It has dealt a
severe blow to the flora and fauna as well as the environment in the areas
around the only shipbreaking yard in the country, Sitakunda.
In this regard the government must take
note of the caution of the environmentalists that has been sounded from time to
time, and as is being done now in this particular case, too. It is astonishing
that in the five-member team that visited the proposed site one does not find
the name of any DoE representative or of any environmentalist.
The proposed area is in an equally
ecologically sensitive area, if not more, than the Chittagong
There is need to consider the long term
impact of a venture on the ecology of the country against the benefits.
Source: The Daily Star. 11 October 2011
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