ISLAMABAD:
Experts have called for putting in place a stringent regime to ensure safety of
labourers and manage the hazardous waste caused by ship dismantling at the
Gaddani ship breaking yard in Balochsitan.
They were
speaking at a policy workshop titled “Environmentally-Sound Management of Waste
from Ship Dismantling in Pakistan”, organised by the Climate Change Ministry in
collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) here on
Monday.
The experts
while urging relevant agencies to take immediate measures to comply with
international standards noted that lack of steps for proper management of the
hazardous waste was further aggravating environmental pollution.
They
emphasised that Pakistan needed to comply with international standards for safe
and environmentally sound ship recycling to save the ship breaking industry
from a complete collapse, which accounts for nearly 200,000 direct and indirect
employments besides contributing over Rs8 billion to the kitty.
The industry
is stretched over a long waterfront of more than 10 kilometres with about 130
active ship recycling yards which are operated by roughly 32 recyclers. The
beach is remarkably excellent with steep water draft and almost a non-tidal
zone where highest tides go up just slightly three metres, as compared to 10
metres-plus tides at Alang in India and Chittagong in Bangladesh.
The
ship-breaking involves generation of hazardous waste and toxic substances,
which cause environmental pollution. The pollution or contamination can have
both acute and long-term effects on human health and environment. Many of the
ships that come for demolition contain contaminants and dangerous chemicals.
“Efforts are
being made with the help of experts from the UNEP to ensure that environmental
protection and labour safety standards are enforced at the Gadani ship breaking
yard,” said Climate Change Ministry Joint Secretary Sajjad Ahmed Bhutta, who is
also the national project coordinator of the Environmentally-Sound Management
of Waste from Ship Dismantling in Pakistan.
He said that
the government was fully committed to its national and international
obligations to safeguard the environment by putting in place
environmental-friendly ship breaking practices.
“Pakistan
has taken various initiatives for the protection of environment over the past
two decades and is a signatory to a number of international conventions and
protocols on environmental issues especially hazardous chemicals and wastes,”
he said.
While
talking about the prime goals of the project, he said, “this project shall
focus on the development of inventories of hazardous waste and other waste at
Gaddani. Following the development of inventories, plans will be developed to
assist the government and industry to establish the requisite infrastructure
for environmentally safe ship recycling”.
Pakistan
Ship Breakers’ Association member Asif Ali welcomed any support that helped the
ship breaking firms in Pakistan to comply with international environmental and
safety standards during ship breaking activities.
Project
Manager at Sofies SA, an international consultant firm in sustainability, David
Martin, said that 70 per cent of ship breaking activities take place in
Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. “But it does not happen in conformity with
principles of environmental protection, which leads to large-scale marine
pollution and health hazards for local communities because of handling of
hazardous waste from ship breaking activities.”
He called
for proper management o hazardous waste to control environmental degradation in
coastal areas.
Source: the express tribune. 19 August 2015
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