Agence France Presse

"The failure of the Bangladesh government to address the environmental and workers' safety conditions at the ship breaking yards could result in the diversion of business from Bangladesh due to international pressure," Nityanand Jayaram, Asia Toxics campaigner for Greenpeace, told a press conference here.  

He added the Bangladesh government should end its "head-in-the-sand approach" and fix the situation in the southeast's Chittagong ship breaking yard -- in which ships are broken down for scrap -- which was operating under abysmal conditions jeopardising both worker safety and the environment.  

At least 14 workers have been killed since May in accidents in Chittagong's ship breaking industry.  The deaths were mostly caused by gas chamber explosions or accidental falls.  Syeda Rizwana Hasan of the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers' Association (BELA), said exact statistics were not available, but about 500 workers have been killed in 15 years in such accidents.  More than 300,000 people, mostly day labourers, work in the industry near Chittagong port city.

"It is difficult to track their next of kins as they travel from poverty-stricken northern Bangladesh areas," she said.  "The message that is being sent to the international community here is that profitability of ship owners and the environment of ship breaking nations is more important than the lives of Bangladeshi workers." 

She said an average of 70 ships per year, worth 21 billion taka (404 million dollars), were brought to Chittagong.  To stop such accidents the government should immediately contact the International Maritime Organisation and appoint an internationally reputed organisation to ensure the ships' safety before allowing them to enter Bangladesh, Greenpeace's Jayaram said.  He said ships from Europe, coated with toxic paints and containing toxic materials as well as asbestos, were now being dumped in China, India and Bangladesh.  

"We are campaigning to stop from making Asia a dumping ground for such ships," the Greenpeace official said.  

The BELA has sent legal notice to some government agencies and Rizwana Hasan said they have promised to take steps, though she remained doubtful.  There are 32 wrecking yards in Bangladesh providing some 1.5 million tonnes of scrap, the main source of raw material for Bangladeshi steel mills.