Dismantling of toxic ship goes on despite court order
Dismantling of MT Enterprise, an oil tanker blacklisted by Greenpeace for containing hazardous substance, continues at Madina Enterprise yard on a Sitakunda beach defying a court order.
A High Court (HC) bench will tomorrow hold the hearing on a writ petition filed against a ship-breaking yard in connection with contempt of court in the case regarding MT Enterprise.
Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (Bela) filed the writ petition on October 17 accusing the importer of the ship of being in contempt of court.
Hearing on the petition was scheduled for Wednesday, later shifted to October 23 and then put off for Sunday.
The deferral of the hearing created resentment among environmentalists who termed it a result of trickery by defence lawyers to delay the hearing and pave the way to dismantle the vessel.
They said the ship-breaker concerned claimed of stripping 50 percent of the iron from the ship and it cannot be true since it usually takes 5-6 months to completely disassemble a ship.
Bela had filed a petition with a court against the import of MT Enterprise being concerned at the ship's allegedly carrying hazardous substances. A court on September 17 issued a stay order on dismantling the ship.
Following another petition by Bela, a court on September 29 issued another stay order on beaching and dismantling the ship for three weeks. Bela filed another petition and got the court to extend the stay order till November 18.
However, the ship breaker during the Eid and Puja vacations beached the ship at Sitakunda and started dismantling it.
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