Ship breakers return to work

Following a 10-day suspension of work, the Sitakunda ship-breaking yard returned to its normal business Wednesday.
The ship-breakers resumed work at the yard with an ultimatum of seven days to the government to cancel the amended import policy for scrap vessels.
“We resumed work following requests from the re-rolling mill owners who had been suffering due to an absence of scrap iron that they use as raw material to make mild steel rods,” said Kamal Uddin, vice president of Bangladesh Ship Breakers Association.
The suspension also needed to be postponed to pay the salaries and wages to the members of the staff, he said. “However, we will go for fresh agitation unless our demands are met within the given time.”
Workers suspended work on February 20 to protest the new import policy that made it mandatory for ship importers to submit pre-cleaning certificates before any ship entered the country's maritime territory.