Asbestos crisis grows: The struggle continues in Aliağa

Reactions continue against the ship containing asbestos and chemical substances that arrived in Aliağa, İzmir, for dismantling. The ship named Raymond Croze, owned by the French company 'Orange' and brought to the district on December 27, will be dismantled at the Anadolu Gemi Söküm (AGS) facility. Following protests against the ship, citizens have decided to escalate their struggle.

According to a report by Aycan Karadağ from BirGün; a campaign will be launched to ensure that ships arriving in the district are inspected by external auditors and that dismantling is carried out by trained workers in closed pools instead of using techniques that poison the environment and workers. It has been learned that the Aliağa Environmental Platform will announce the details of the campaign in the coming days. The environmental pollution and risks to worker health caused by ship dismantling continue to increase every year.

The Aliağa district of İzmir is the only organized ship dismantling center in Turkey and Europe. After Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, Aliağa is the facility that processes the most scrap steel.

AT THE PEAK OF WORKPLACE FATALITIES

In the district, 1 million 450 thousand tons of scrap are extracted annually by 22 companies operating ship dismantling facilities on 403 thousand 710 square meters of land. According to the İzmir Aliağa Ship Recycling Sector Analysis data, 2,054 ships were dismantled between 2008 and 2020. These ships contain many hazardous chemical substances, primarily asbestos. On the other hand, the number of workplace fatalities in these ship dismantling facilities is also high. According to data from the Health and Safety Labor Watch (İSİG), 27 of the 97 workers who lost their lives in Aliağa between 2013 and 2022 were recorded as working in the ship, maritime, and port sectors.

News Source: 12punto