SC stays scrapping of toxic ship in Ctg

The Supreme Court yesterday stayed a High Court order that asked the authorities to scrap a toxic ship near Parki Sea Beach, a tourist area, in Anwara of Chattogram.

Chamber judge of the Appellate Division of the SC Justice Md Nuruzzaman passed the order following a leave to appeal petition filed by Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (Bela).

The chamber judge also sent the petition to a full bench of the apex court for its hearing on February 11.

Toxic ship “MV Cristal Gold” cannot be broken following the SC chamber judge's order, Sayeed Ahmed Kabir, a lawyer for Bela, told The Daily Star.

He said MV Cristal Gold got stranded near Parki Sea Beach in a storm on May 30, 2017.

Four Star Enterprise, a ship breaking company, purchased the ship on auction and was allowed to beach the ship on condition by Chittagong Port Authority.

Following a petition filed by BASIC Bank from which Four Star Enterprise took a loan over the ship, the HC on October 25 last year directed the authorities concerned to scrap MV Cristal Gold, the lawyer said.

Later on, Bela filed the leave to appeal petition with the SC challenging the HC order, saying that the ship was being scrapped at a risky place, which is violation of the relevant ship breaking rules and the SC directives.

Lawyer AM Aminuddin appeared for Bela.