Ship breakers seek better life in forlorn hope

Lack of adequate safety regulations, shortage of tools and equipment, absence of healthcare facilities, pure drinking water and sanitation facilities as well as poor payment have pushed thousands of workers of the Sitakunda ship breaking yard into a forlorn state.

The Sitakunda ship breaking yard is a highly polluted coastal belt.

A number of children are also involved in the job which largely requires arduous muscle work and a strong physical build.

According to a Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) survey, around 11 per cent of the workers in the ship breaking industry are under 18 and risking their lives. And most of them have come from northern districts.

Of them, about 24.15 per cent workers are from Bogra, 17.36 per cent from Jamalpur and 7.55 per cent from Sirajganj, sources said.

"They are to work on an average 10 hours a day in the yards and hardly enjoy any break," a YPSA official said.

He said the wages are not satisfactory at all. Of the five categories of workers, the cutter group gets the lowest of Tk 85.56 a day while the hammer group the highest Tk 150.

The workers can hardly think of any relief or recreation whatsoever. Several young workers go to the sex workers in search of pastime with the risk of transmitting the fatal diseases into their bodies.

Of the 68.30 per cent unmarried labourers, 7.55 per cent used to go to the sex workers, sources said.

Besides, 43.77 per cent watch television and 22.64 per cent go to cinema at leisure.

Moreover, 54.72 percent of the labourers said that the sanitation facility at the yard was very bad.

Some 90.19 per cent of the labourers said that they don't have any medical facilities in the yard. The authorities do not offer any medical facility except in case of serious accident, they added.

The NGO official said that the labourers have no any appointment letter or contract for their job and they don't get any leave even on the occasion of holy Eid-ul-Fitr or Eid-ul-Azha.

Haroon, a middle-aged labourer of the cutter group, said that he had been working at the ship breaking yard for the last two years without any holiday.

"I could not meet my family members in Bogra since I came here in early 2003. But I shall meet them very soon if I get money," he said.

YPSA Programme Officer, Abdullah Al Mamun told The Daily Star that a national policy on the ship breaking yard is essential to mitigate the sufferings of the workers.

"We have been working with the owner of the yards, labourers and the other stakeholders for the last two years. And a policy can boost the ship breaking industry which currently earns Tk 7000 million revenue a year," he said.

He said the government should take necessary steps in this regard for the betterment of the industry.

Mentionable, the ship breaking industry started its journey on the seashore area of Sitakunda Upazila (Fouzderhat to Bar Awlia) after a severe cyclonic storm in 1960.

It expanded to a wider extent in the early 1980's and now over 20,000 people work in the industry.