3 workers killed at Shipbreaking Yard in Chittagong

Three workers of a shipbreaking yard were crushed to death and another injured when a heavy iron plate fell on them at Madambibir Hat under Sitakunda upazila in the district on Saturday evening, 9 October 2010.

The deceased were identified as –

Abul Kalam, 20, of Noakhali;

Mohammad Faruk, 30, of Bhatiari area under Sitakunda uapzila and

Abul Bashar, 35, of Bogra.

At least 12 workers were carrying the heavy plate of steel, witnesses said, adding that the death toll could increase.

Injured worker Aminul Islam, 25, was being treated in Chittagong Medical College Hospital till about 10:30pm.

The Sitakunda police officer-in-charge, Nur Mohammad, said a case had been filed in this connection.

A heavy iron plate suddenly fell on the three workers leaving them dead on the spot around 7.00pm while working at the yard of Sima Steel, owned by one Mohammad Shafi, said Abdur Razzak, sub-inspector of Sitakunda Police Station.

Police sent the bodies to Chittagong Medical College Hospital for autopsy after the deceased co-workers recovered them, Razzak said.

A number of workers, however, said the yard's owner allowed no one to enter the yard till filing this story at 10:00 pm.

With this, at least 34 workers were killed and several others injured in the last 18 months in 16 accidents in 16 shipyards, mostly due to explosions and coming in contact with toxic materials in ships.

On March 5, 2009, the Supreme Court directed the government to ensure safety of those working at shipbreaking yards.

The government has so far failed to comply with the directive, as it allows the yards to operate without ensuring workers' safety, and also without obtaining environment clearance certificates.

Source:

The Daily Star, 10 October 2010

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=157874

The New Age, 10 October 2010

http://www.newagebd.com/2010/oct/10/front.html#1

Bangladesh under big threat of 2.8 million electronic-waste

More than 2.8 million tonnes of electronic-waste generated every year from ship breaking yards and other electronic equipment in Bangladesh pose a big threat to the country's environment and human life, a survey revealed.
   
Environment and Social Development Organisation conducted the survey for last one year in two major cities in the country and briefed newsmen on the findings at WVA auditorium in Dhaka on Friday.
   
The survey report said besides ship breaking yards, other consumer products such as computers, televisions, mobile phones, compact fluorescent lamp, medical equipment and dental equipment are generating electronic waste or e-waste in the country and creating serious havoc on environment.
   
As the old or used electronic equipment are dumped in unscientific manner, these are causing environmental hazard, the report said and mentioned that due to lack of awareness, people dump the e-waste materials on land, farm land and into water bodies.
   
Dr Hossein Shahriar, secretary general of ESDO, and member of the steering committee of International Pops Elimination Network, presented the findings of the survey.
   
He said ESDO conducted a survey over the last year in various locations around Dhaka and Chittagong to determine the extent of the e-waste being generated in the cities.
   
'The study revealed that there is a huge amount of e-waste being generated in Bangladesh each year and the volume is increasing exponentially,' he said.
   
According to the survey, the e-waste generated from ship breaking yards is equivalent to approximately 2.5 million metric tons each year while the dumping of other equipment such as TV, computers, mobile phones, CFL, refrigerators, medical equipment also generate huge quantity of e-waste.
   
The ESDO stressed on immediate action to reduce the impact of the growing problem of e-waste in the country and to develop an e-waste management policy in this regard.

The briefing session was chaired by ESDO chairperson Syed Marghub Murshed and co-chaired by ESDO executive committee member Professor Najmul Ahsan Kallahmullah and ESDO executive director Siddika Sultana.

Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha . Dhaka
Newage: http://www.newagebd.com/2010/oct/09/nat.html


Related reports & projects:

E-waste Management Scenario in Bangladesh: presentation prepared (2010) by Fazle Rabbi Sadeque Ahmed, Director, DOE, Bangladesh
http://gec.jp/gec/jp/Activities/ietc/fy2010/e-waste/ew_1-9.pdf

StEP: Solving the E-Waste Problem
http://www.step-initiative.org/taskforces/tf3.php

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Ship Breaking in Chittagong, Bangladesh

God knows what these workers are doing after the closure of Chittagong shipbreaking yards in August 2010.

Around 50 thousand workers were said to be involved directly in the breaking yards.

No doubts the activities in the shipbreaking yards were not well regulated, yards were polluting the environment and the occupational safety and health condition was poor...............but now who will take responsibility of these tens of thousands of workers and their family members?

Both Government and Industry should act in a more responsible manner. They should sit together to find an interim solution and keep the activities going. If recently ordered 'pre-cleaning of ships before import' is the ultimate issue, then Government may take some initiatives for the time being to break the deadlock and later start looking for a permanent and productive solution of the problem.

As interim measure Government may -

• subsidize a part of the cost of pre-cleaning of scrap ships in the exporting countries as required by the Supreme Court order, or
• reduce/waive taxes for importing ships for a period of time to compensate the cost of pre-cleaning of ships.

Later, Government may take initiatives to minimize or compensate the cost of cleaning/removal of hazardous materials from the ships to help the Bangladeshi Shipbreaking industry to remain competitive with other shipbreaking nations. Government may -

• establish modern Waste Reception Facility in Chittagong through public private partnership (PPP) or with the help of UN agencies (eg World Bank, ADB etc)  and International aid organizations ( like, Norad, JICA, GEF etc), who showed keen interest in the past to support the Shipbreaking industry to improve the working condition and the environment.
• train interested people or companies to develop skilled man-power capable of providing hazardous material cleaning/removal and disposal services.
• ensure acceptable shipbreaking practise and make bilateral agreements with the shipping nations for procuring old ships directly directly by the Bangladeshi Shipbreakers to avoid costly Cash Buyers and other brokers.