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DON’T DUMP CLEMENCEAU ON INDIA; Workers and Green Groups Demand Stricter Regime for Shipbreaking.
December 12, 2005
The report produced by Greenpeace, FIDH (the International Federation
for Human Rights) and YPSA (Young Power in Social Action) from
Bangladesh follows the story of 110 workers who have died during
accidents in ship breaking yards of India and Bangladesh. The report
release coincides with the Joint Working Group meeting that began
today, at the Palais de Nations in Geneva, where representatives of
three United Nations bodies, International Maritime Organisation (IMO),
the Basel Convention and the International Labour Organisation (ILO),
will meet to discuss ways to bring the ship breaking industry under
control.
"Dumping Clemenceau on India or any other Asian ship breaking yard not equipped to deal with this toxic behemoth would result in yet another casualty of war, this time the victims would be unprotected, vulnerable and poor workers." said Ramapati Kumar of Greenpeace India from Toulon, France.
"End-of-life ships should be treated like any other toxic material under the internationally recognised Basel Convention which bans the dumping of such waste by OECD countries in non-OECD countries. Clemenceau has been rejected earlier by Turkey, Greece and India on the grounds that its export violates the Basel BAN Amendment. We have reasons to believe that this latest effort to export, allegedly after asbestos removal, is nothing but an attempt to green-wash, as the ship still contains large quantities of asbestos. The French government has moral responsibility to ensure that it respects the Basel recommendations in letter and spirit." said Shailendra Yashwant, Campaign Director, Greenpeace India.
"The Indian Authorities, especially the Ministry of Environment and Forests, have shown utter disregard for the Basel Convention and the Indian Supreme Court directives, even as ship-breakers hoodwink them to illegally import toxic ships-for-scrap for breaking at Alang." said Madhumita Dutta of Corporate Accountability Desk. ."The murky import of the Danish Ship Riky alias Kong Frederik IX clearly shows that the shipping industry is willing to go to any length, including fabricating papers fraudulently to rid itself of the responsibility of following international and national laws." she added.
"The working conditions in Indian and Bangladesh yards are pathetic to say the least, the report clearly shows that the shipping industry has to ensure that International standards on labour, safety, health and the environment be respected at shipbreaking yards wherever they may be. A fund fed by the shipowners and governments should be created to support the improvement of working conditions at shipbreaking yards and to compensate the victims of accidents on the yards and their family" said P K Ganguly of CITU.
For Further Information contact :
Vinuta Gopal, Greenpeace India, +919845535418
vgopal@dialb.greenpeace.org
Ramapati Kumar, Greenpeace India, +919845535414 rkumar@dialb.greenpeace.org
Madhumita Dutta, Corporate Accountability Desk - 011- 51652451/51652452 mdutta@vsnl.net
Read the report “End of life ships- the human cost of breaking ships”
"Dumping Clemenceau on India or any other Asian ship breaking yard not equipped to deal with this toxic behemoth would result in yet another casualty of war, this time the victims would be unprotected, vulnerable and poor workers." said Ramapati Kumar of Greenpeace India from Toulon, France.
"End-of-life ships should be treated like any other toxic material under the internationally recognised Basel Convention which bans the dumping of such waste by OECD countries in non-OECD countries. Clemenceau has been rejected earlier by Turkey, Greece and India on the grounds that its export violates the Basel BAN Amendment. We have reasons to believe that this latest effort to export, allegedly after asbestos removal, is nothing but an attempt to green-wash, as the ship still contains large quantities of asbestos. The French government has moral responsibility to ensure that it respects the Basel recommendations in letter and spirit." said Shailendra Yashwant, Campaign Director, Greenpeace India.
"The Indian Authorities, especially the Ministry of Environment and Forests, have shown utter disregard for the Basel Convention and the Indian Supreme Court directives, even as ship-breakers hoodwink them to illegally import toxic ships-for-scrap for breaking at Alang." said Madhumita Dutta of Corporate Accountability Desk. ."The murky import of the Danish Ship Riky alias Kong Frederik IX clearly shows that the shipping industry is willing to go to any length, including fabricating papers fraudulently to rid itself of the responsibility of following international and national laws." she added.
"The working conditions in Indian and Bangladesh yards are pathetic to say the least, the report clearly shows that the shipping industry has to ensure that International standards on labour, safety, health and the environment be respected at shipbreaking yards wherever they may be. A fund fed by the shipowners and governments should be created to support the improvement of working conditions at shipbreaking yards and to compensate the victims of accidents on the yards and their family" said P K Ganguly of CITU.
For Further Information contact :
Vinuta Gopal, Greenpeace India, +919845535418
vgopal@dialb.greenpeace.org
Ramapati Kumar, Greenpeace India, +919845535414 rkumar@dialb.greenpeace.org
Madhumita Dutta, Corporate Accountability Desk - 011- 51652451/51652452 mdutta@vsnl.net
Read the report “End of life ships- the human cost of breaking ships”
