By Martyn Banks - 18th March 2008
UK MEP Robert Evans has called on the EU to ‘face up to its responsibilities’ over the environmental impact of ship dismantling.
The EU accounts for about a third of all ships that are sent for scrapping each year. Most of it is done on the Indian sub-continent.
But Robert Evans, a UK Socialist MEP, says the majority of shipyards are “completely ill equipped” to deal with this kind of work.
The impact of such work on the environment is “appalling,” he said.
Evans has just recently returned from a trip to dismantling yards in the region and is also chair of the parliament's South Asia delegation.
He said, “Once beautiful beaches have been transformed into treacherous industrial zones in which workers, including children, are in constant danger.
Writing in the latest issue of the Parliament magazine, he said, “Europe’s priority should be to provide immediate help to South Asian ship yards enabling them to comply with international standards.”
Evans has drafted a report on the issue which parliament is due to vote on at its plenary in April.
"I am hopeful that the report will be the start of some very positive change for the ship dismantling industry."
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