IMO’s SENSREC project has developed draft amendments to update the legislation in Bangladesh for the governance of the ship recycling industry and the management of hazardous waste. The proposal was presented and reviewed by key players in government and private sector during a workshop in Dhaka organized by SENSREC on 16 February.

The proposed amendments are aimed at aligning the industry with the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (HKC) and to key aspects of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions.

The one-day workshop attracted a notable high level participation, with attendance by the three ministers and two senior secretaries.

The Minister of Shipping, Mr Sakhawah Hossain, and the Minister  of Industries, Mr Rahman Khan, expressed their support for development of the ship recycling industry in Bangladesh emphasizing  that the outstanding issues related to environmental performance and worker safety must be addressed. Also speaking at the one-day event, the Minister of Environment, Forest, Climate Change and Water Resources, Ms Rizwana Hasan, urged the sector’s stakeholders to enhance the monitoring of environmental sustainability in the ship recycling industry and recommended that more stringent penalties to be put in place to help enforce safety laws and prevent accidents and injury to the workforce.

Norway’s ambassador to Bangladesh, His Excellency Håkon Arald Gulbrandsen attended the event which brought together 85 stakeholders from diverse subsectors of Bangladesh’s ship breaking and recycling industry. The Government of Norway has funded the SENSREC project since its inception.

Proposals stemming from the workshop will be subject to further review by the relevant government ministries before being put forward to parliament.

SENSREC is a capacity building project of the IMO, with funding from the Government of Norway. The project aims to assist developing countries in implementation of the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships.