Staff Correspondent
The High Court on Wednesday fined the importer and breaker of the MT Enterprise, on the Greenpeace list of hazardous ships, Tk 1 lakh for continuing with breaking the ship defying an injunction imposed by court on November 30, 2008.
The High Court bench of Justice M Imman Ali and Justice M Ashfaqul Islam also ordered the Chttagong deputy commissioner to realise the fine in two weeks from the Messrs Madina Enterprise owner Jainal Abedin, who imported and continued with breaking the ship.
If he fails to pay the fine, Jainal will serve seven days in jail, the court said. The court passed the order after hearing both the parties to the case.
The same bench on November 30, 2008 ordered no scrapping in Bangladesh’s territorial waters of the hazardous vessels listed by Greenpeace such as the MT Enterprise, which contains extremely dangerous substances such as asbestos.
The court passed the November 30 order after hearing three experts — Md Aftab Uddin of the biochemistry and molecular biology department in Dhaka University, Md Musharraf Ashraf of the shipping department and Iftekhar Enayetullah of the Waste Concern — on the potential hazards of unregulated breaking of ships.
On September 17, the High Court vacation bench of Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Mamnoon Rahman ordered no scrapping of the hazardous vessels as listed by Greenpeace such as the MT Enterprise in the territorial waters of Bangladesh.
It also asked the government to explain why the issuance of the ‘no objection certificate,’ given by the shipping department for the entry of the MT Enterprise and the SS Norway, enlisted by the international environmental rights watchdog Greenpeace as one of the 50 dangerous ships, into the territorial waters of Bangladesh for breaking, would not be declared unlawful and against public and national interest.
The Department of Environment was also directed to submit a report by December 14, 2008 as to whether the ship breaking that has taken place had any precautionary measures regarding the safety of the persons working on the ship and having in place any facility bearing in mind the responsibility of the department to protect the environment.
The report, submitted by the department, clearly noted that the breaking was continuing even after the court order and that the breaker/importer had taken no clearance from department nor had they undertaken any measure to protect the environment and the workers.
The court subsequently on December 18, 2008 ordered the court marshal to inspect the yard and report on the present state of the ship. Considering both the reports, the court held the importer/breaker as ‘guilty of contempt of court.’
Former attorney general Fida M Kamal with Syeda Rizwana Hasan and M Iqbal Kabir moved the case on behalf of the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers’ Association. Rokunuddin Mahmud appeared for Jainal.
Courtesy: newagebd.com
