The government has formed two committees to help expedite the framing of policy that aims to promote ship breaking without harming environment. Of the committees, one is the national committee headed by Industries Minister and another is the technical committee headed by additional secretary of the Ministry of Industries (MoI). The decision was taken at an inter-ministerial meeting with Industries Minister Dilip Barua in chair. "The national committee will supervise the preparatory process of the policy and the sector's development," Mr Barua said, adding that the technical committee would assist the national committee. The policy-targetted for a long term guideline support--will mainly focus on the environmental problems facing the sector, while also ensuring the protection of tens of thousands of workers employed in the hazardous industry, he explained. In February, the government declared ship-breaking to be an industry after reviewing the sector's positive and negative sides. It also finally placed the ship-breaking industry under MoI. Earlier last month, the minister said that the policy would be formulated by May providing a comprehensive guideline for the industry people. Financing becomes easy for a sector if there exists a comprehensive policy, KM Abdul Wadud, general manager of Banking Regulation and Policy Department of Bangladesh Bank. Leaders of the meeting said Bangladesh has become the second biggest ship breaker nation in the world and the country's economic development would be faster if the ship breaking industry is managed well with proper environmental safeguard. They suggested building a modern dockyard, one stop service centre, government level waste storage and management system and docking system for ship breaking. Later, the minister sat with ship breakers' association where they demanded the inclusion of representatives of FBCCI, re-rolling mills, still millers along with ship breakers. Leaders from the re-rolling sector demanded a comprehensive policy that would provide guideline for controlling market price of MS rod. They said the policy should protect the interest of re-rolling industries, saying when the prices of MS rod go up in the local market, the sector suffers a serious setback. About 400 re-rolling mills get 80 per cent of the raw material from the ship breaking industry and the policy should frame in such a way so that ship breakers are bound to inform the concerned authority about the price hike of rod and the reason of it at least a month earlier. The minister asked the association leaders and the FBCCI representative to provide their suggestions in written form within two or three days.
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