A six-million-dollar aid package from the Norwegian development agency NORAD was criticised by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, a coalition of international expert organisations on environment, labor and development issues. The Platform met with NORAD on May 12 in Oslo and voiced concern that unless NORAD modifies its aid package from what is currently planned and instead undertakes activities to quickly phase out toxic ships from arriving in Bangladesh and broken down on tidal beaches, they will simply be greenwashing a human rights and environmental disaster.
“Norway must face its global responsibilities as a global leader in environment, human rights and shipping,” said Platform director Ingvild Jenssen. “Indeed all of these causes can be served, but that will not happen, if the Norwegian project is limited to training workers on safeguards rather than also establishing a model shipbreaking facility in Bangladesh .”
Rizwana Hasan, the 2009 Goldman Prize winner and leader of the Platform member organisation Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) said that the program is off on the wrong foot by not involving any non-governmental organisations and that the current project outline could institutionalise the malpractice rather than end it.
”The funding could indeed be useful but the plan as described to us, will not address the real issues. It is not being designed in a transparent way, it does not involve meaningful civil society participation in Bangladesh , Norway or elsewhere. We fear that if it is implemented as proposed, it may simply institutionalise beaching and the importation of toxic ships -- a practice that is highly polluting and deadly to our workers.”
In 2010, 30 Norwegian ships* were sent to Bangladesh , India and Pakistan , according to data compiled by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform. Most of the ships were beached and broken in sub-standard recycling operations by poorly trained workers. In 2010 alone, 12 people were killed in Bangladeshi yards and 24 crippled. Dangerous pollutants like asbestos, PCBs and mercury are released into the environment, causing occupational disease and damaging coastal ecosystems. Millions of people depend on the coastal area for food, and the pollution from the sub-standard recycling has already wiped out 21 fish species and destroyed the livelihoods of fishermen.
“Would Norway ever break ships on its beaches? We don’t think so,” said Ms. Hasan.
Rizwana Hasan has been fighting in Bangladeshi courts to prevent the import of toxic-laden-ships to her country and successfully stopped the process for several months. The court order has been postponed to temporarily allow more ships to be imported without first being de-contaminated of toxic wastes.
In Bangladesh , India and Pakistan , where most of the shipbreaking is done and where law enforcement is weak, the industry returns are very profitable. According to a recent study conducted by the World Bank, each ship provides more than 900,000 USD in net profit. Many companies, including those in Norway , choose to sell their ships without first removing toxic wastes.
While in Oslo , the NGO Platform also met with AF Decom Offshore, a leader in the safe and green dismantling of oil platforms in Norway . “As an industry, we must follow very strict regulations to protect the environment and our workers when we are operating”, said Jøran Baann, HSE/Q Manager of the company. Speaking about shipbreaking on tidal beaches, he said: “My background is in chemical engineering, and this type of behaviour makes no sense when it comes to chemicals management. One would have to think about cleaning every grain of sand after each operation.”
“The shipbreaking issue is important for Bellona and we are committed to ensuring Norway plays a truly positive role with its aid programs and other activities. The Norwegian aid project must incorporate a strategy towards abandoning shipbreaking on beaches altogether” said Svend Søyland, international adviser at the Bellona Foundation.
* Norwegian ships in this context are ships whose last beneficiary owner was a Norwegian controlled company. The fact that these ships may have been sold to non-Norwegian entities while they were en-route for shipbreaking yards is less relevant.
(This press release was sent by Platform member organisation Bellona to the Norwegian press)
Source: The NGO Shipbreaking Platform. 13 May 2011
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