Greenpeace activists demonstrated outside the French embassy in India.
France is a signatory to the Basel Convention, which prohibits
the transfer of wastes from OECD to non-OECD countries. Greenpeace
reminded the French Government of its obligations to honour the
Convention, when activists boarded the Clemenceau on December 12,
2005 and unfurled a banner from its mast, stating "Asbestos
carrier. Stay out of India", while it was berthed at the military
harbour in Toulon, France. Despite the 23-hour Greenpeace vigil on
board the ship, and concerted attempts by activists from the Ban
Asbestos Network, Corporate Accountability Desk, and trade unions
to stall its departure, the ship was dispatched from France on
December 31 and is being towed to a ship-breaking yard in Alang,
Gujarat. (1)
"France has behaved shamefully as far as the Clemenceau is
concerned. They have lied about the amount of hazardous materials
on board, tried to hide behind confidentiality clauses, and
deliberately misrepresented facts," accused Ramapati Kumar, Toxics
Campaigner, Greenpeace India, "This is completely unacceptable!
France clearly has no respect for the international laws it
purports to support, let alone the environment, or the welfare of
workers in the ship-breaking yards who will be exposed to the toxic
wastes on board this French ship."
Officials from Technopure, the company contracted by the French
Government for decontaminating the ship before it was dispatched to
India, have gone on public record to confirm that the Clemenceau
bears as much as 500 tonnes of asbestos, a far cry from the 45 to
50 tonnes that the French Government has admitted to. The company
ended its contract with the French Government and disclosed this
information on moral grounds, despite the confidentiality clause
they were bound to. Technopure officials declared that France never
intended to undertake more than a superficial clean-up of visible
toxic substances on board the Clemenceau and deliberately chose the
cheapest option they could get away with, despite the knowledge
that the wastes on board would result in disease and death for
Indian workers and devastation for the Indian environment.
As activist groups have pointed out, the Supreme Court
Monitoring Committee (SCMC) in India has also been misled by the
SDIC (Ship decommissioning agency) and by ship-breakers. The
ship-breakers in turn have been misled by the French government and
the SDIC. While the SCMC was assured that 98% of the wastes on
board the Clemenceau would be removed in France prior to its
arrival in India, in reality this is far from the case. Considering
that none of the conditions laid down by the Supreme Court
Monitoring Committee have been met (2), Greenpeace is calling on
the Ministry of Environment and Forests to revoke its clearance for
the Clemenceau, and prohibit its arrival in India. The French
Government must fulfil its obligations under the Basel Convention
and take full responsibility for the proper decontamination of the
Clemenceau, instead of dumping it in ship-breaking yards in India
or elsewhere.
"The Clemenceau is French property - as is all the hazardous
waste on the ship. They cannot be allowed to dump this waste onto
India," said P K Ganguly, Member of the National Working Committee
of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, "Simply because India's
scrap-yard labour is unorganised, cheap and exploitable, it does
not provide carte blanche for France to inflict further harm upon
these workers."
"Apart from the havoc that the Clemenceau will wreak on the
Indian environment and workers' health, it is also a symbol of the
developed world's arrogant assumption that India can be a recipient
for their refuse," said G. Ananthapadmanabhan, Executive Director,
Greenpeace India, "This is a matter of national shame that should
sting every Indian. The Indian government's passive acceptance of
this dumping is certainly not in keeping with India's growing
international stature."
Notes to the Editor:
1. As per decision VII/26 taken at the COP7 meeting of
the Basel Convention ships-for-scrap are considered 'waste'. The
Clemenceau, being towed to India, is clearly a consignment of
waste-materials, and not a seaworthy ship.
2. The meeting of the SCMC sub-committee on shipbreaking on
February 2, 2005, laid down the following conditions for the import
of the Clemenceau:
"The Committee indicated that several documents would still have
to be submitted by Sree Ram:
* Report of the decontamination in Toulon, France which would
provide details of actual quantities of asbestos and other
hazardous materials removed from the ship;
* Independent third-party audit verifying the report;
* Certificate from the French authorities that the ship has been
decontaminated and does not violate the provisions of the Basel
Convention.
In addition, MoEF shall procure from the French Embassy all the
relevant documents relating to the ship including an official
statement from the French Government that in its view and that of
its own experts, the hazardous materials including asbestos have
been removed upto 98% and the balance would be recovered at Alang
under guidance and coordination of the company (M/s SDIC Ltd.) as
well.
Subject to the above, SCMC has no objection to the arrival and
demolition of ship in India.
For further information, please contact:
Ramapati Kumar, Toxics Campaigner, Greenpeace +919845535414 
Namrata Chowdhary, Media Officer, Greenpeace +919810850092 