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| MK_SHIPBREAK_007 Bangladesh shipbreakers have illegally beached 16 toxic ships for scrapping on the Chittagong coast last month according to the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, a global coalition of environmental, human and labour rights non-governmental organisations working for safe and clean ship recycling. «It is a clear violation of the 2009 High Court order that stated that no ship could be beached without an environmental clearance certificate that guarantees that they are free of all in-built toxic materials» explains Rizwana Hasan, Goldman Prize winner and Exectutive Director of Platform member, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Asssoication (BELA).
Shifts start at seven in the morning and go through till eleven at night with two hours in breaks. The work is done on or around the beach by unskilled laborers who travel from the poorest parts to work for a pittance, largely without any representation. No latrines or showers exist, and disease is rife. The sites see asbestos thrown freely about, the dust filling the air, the toxic smoke from metal cutting drifts amongst the workers. Heavy metals run freely into the sand along with the waste lubricants to wash out to sea.
The Geneva based International Metalworkers Federation, who published an extensive survey in 2007 on working practices in the region, estimates that in Bangladesh a worker dies in the breaking yards every three weeks on average.
Although there are safer and cleaner methods for recycling ships, cashbuyers continue to sell their vessels to the poorest countries of South Asia to gain maximum profit.
© Maro Kouri |
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