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(pictured: the state of the
coastal forest following the illegal tree-cutting in 2009)
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Brussels, 27 February 2014 – The
NGO Shipbreaking Platform and its 18 member organisations around the world
applaud the Forest Department and the District Administration for removing two
shipbreaking yards that had been operating illegally on protected forest land
for several years in Chittagong, one of the worlds’ biggest toxic ship
graveyards located in Southeast Bangladesh [1]. SK Steel and SK Ship Breaking
and Recycling were able to lease the land illegally in 2009, chopped down
thousands of mangrove trees and started importing end-of-life ships for
breaking on the beach. On 6 October 2013, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh
declared the yards illegal, ordered them to be evicted and the trees to be
replanted.
“Finally the Government is facing
up to its responsibilities and enforces our environmental law and the Court’s
decisions,” says Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Chief Executive of Platform member
organisation BELA (Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association). “Shipbreakers
break the law every day by importing ships containing hazardous waste into
Bangladesh and having them beached, and we need to stop all illegal
operations.”
In July 2009, more than 14000
mangrove trees that had been planted with the support of the United Nations in
order to protect the local communities against the devastating impact of
cyclones and floods were felled down to make way for new shipbreaking yards.
Amongst the operators of the yards was a Bangladeshi Parliamentarian, who also
ordered to illegally cut thousands of trees. Some of the tree-cutting took
place during night time, and local communities only found out about it when it
was too late.
In response to the tree-cutting,
the Department of Forest, an agency of the Ministry of Environment and Forest
that protects and manages the forests of Bangladesh, filed a case against the
illegal shipbreaking yards in 2009. Already in 2010, the High Court stated that
shipbreaking should not take place on the beach and on forest land. Moreover,
it declared four shipbreaking yards illegal that had been set up after cutting
down the mangroves, and asked for afforestation. But shipbreaking continued in
the yards and the trees were not replanted. The Supreme Court decision of
October 2013 supported the initial plea of the Forest Department, who has now
taken action together with the District Administration and has evicted the
illegal companies. Thousands of saplings have reappeared where ships were
broken until recently.
Bangladesh is regularly struck by
cyclones and floods that inundate villages and leave thousands of families
without a home or a livelihood. The presence of trees along the coastal belt,
including mangroves, helps to prevent erosion and to mitigate flooding.
Environmental plundering and illegal land grabbing by shipbreaking yards
destroy the coastal green belt and local villages are left vulnerable to
cyclones, coastal and river erosion as well as floods.
The NGO Shipbreaking Platform has
followed the illegal tree-cutting case since the beginning [2].
“Today, Bangladesh sends a clear
signal to the global maritime industry and those involved in shipbreaking: we
do not want your ships polluting our
environment and endangering the lives of our communities,” says Patrizia
Heidegger, Executive Director of the NGO Shipbreaking Platform.
CONTACT
Patrizia Heidegger
Executive Director
NGO Shipbreaking Platform
+32 2 609 44 19
NOTES
[1] See the following articles
for more information and to see pictures of the eviction:
- Dhaka Tribune: http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2014/feb/25/two-illegal-ship-breaking-yards-evicted-after-five-years#sthash.0Fze7Yc4.dpuf
[2] See the 2010 report about the
Platform’s visit to the Chittagong shipbreaking yards here:
http://www.shipbreakingplatform.org/platform-team-goes-to-shipbreaking-yards-of-bangladesh/
Source: shipbreaking
platform.
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