Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan said on Sunday that ship breaking activities must be prohibited in the tidal regions in line with the higher court directives, and this decision must be incorporated into the national policy.
"The directives of the High Court, upheld by the Supreme Court, cannot and must not be ignored," the adviser stated.
"There is no justification for keeping this industry alive if it fails to meet global safety and environmental standards. I am eager to work with the Ministry of Industry to protect Bangladesh from becoming a toxic waste dumping station and to ensure the safety of our workers," she said while speaking at a workshop on the National Regulatory Framework for Ship Recycling and Hazardous Waste Management in Bangladesh at Hotel Intercontinental.
"There are international laws holding polluters accountable, but in Bangladesh, ship owners and breakers control the narrative, often using regulatory loopholes to disguise hazardous practices. We cannot allow an industry to thrive at the cost of human lives. Any legal framework for ship breaking must align with global safety and environmental standards. The High Court's directives, upheld by the Supreme Court, must be implemented. Our workers deserve protection, and our environment deserves better," she added.
Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan called for strict enforcement of environmental laws and accountability in Bangladesh's ship breaking industry. "The country will turn into a dumping ground for the world's hazardous waste if urgent reforms are not introduced in this sector," she said. Highlighting the human and environmental costs of the industry, the adviser emphasized that the ship breaking industry should not continue at the cost of human lives.
Rizwana mentioned the dangerous working conditions in the ship breaking industry, where workers are often exposed to life-threatening hazards due to inadequate safety gear. Comparing the ship breaking industry with Bangladesh's garment sector, she pointed out, "In the garment industry, foreign buyers ensure that labour standards are met. In contrast, ship breaking owners evade their legal responsibility for cleaning up hazardous waste, bringing ships to Bangladesh under false certifications."
Rizwana concluded by reaffirming her commitment to ensuring that Bangladesh does not become a dumping ground for hazardous waste. The environment adviser emphasized that the issue is not merely about ships carrying waste, but about the toxic materials embedded in their structures-materials that Bangladesh lacks the capacity to safely manage.
Emphasizing the importance of enforcing shipbreaking regulations, she said that if the law is not effective, the industry will only appear to be a green industry. She criticised weak regulations that allow hazardous waste to be dumped in Bangladesh, saying that if exporters and ship owners do not adhere to international regulations, managing environmental consequences will be unrealistic.
She revealed instances where fraudulent waste declarations enabled illegal imports, with a single company issuing certificates from four different countries on the same day to facilitate shipbreaking in Bangladesh. Rizwana underscored the need for credible legal regulations on waste declarations, warning that workers dismantling these ships remain unaware of the toxic risks they face. Shipbreaking industry owners should set up signboards at the site in multiple languages to warn workers of cancer risks, she added.
Emphasising the "polluter pays" principle, the adviser argued that waste generators must be held responsible for their disposal. She said most vessels arriving in Bangladesh originate from small island states, although they were originally owned by European companies. Before being sent here, Rizwana said, these companies change the ships' registration in a practice known as the "flag of convenience", allowing them to evade legal respon-sibility.
