France would be ready to take back toxic waste removed from a decommissioned carrier if India s top court allowed the ship to be scrapped in an Indian shipyard, the French envoy said on Wednesday.

Environmental groups like Greenpeace have opposed the entry of the French carrier, Clemenceau, to the Alang scrapping yard in the western state of Gujarat, saying it contains hundreds of tonnes of toxic materials which pose a risk to workers.

The French government says the ship contains only a fraction of that amount. "If needed, we are ready to take back all the toxic waste from Clemenceau to France," said French ambassador Dominique Girard, who visited Alang on Wednesday. "The ship should be allowed to be dismantled in Alang as it would boost the economy," he told a news conference in Bhavnagar, 50 km (30 miles) east of Alang.

India s Supreme Court is expected to decide on Feb. 13 whether to allow the carrier to be scrapped in India. An Indian environment panel, which was to report to the Supreme Court this week on the Clemenceau, was unable to make a firm recommendation and would be submitting two reports to the court, reflecting sharp divisions in the body.

Some of shipyard workers told Reuters they wanted the Clemenceau to be dismantled in Alang, a congested and smoky town of 150,000 people and dozens of private ship-scrapping yards. "We are safe and well equipped to handle any kind of toxic waste. The environmentalists are trying to snatch away our daily bread," said a gaunt and frail Tulsi Lal, a 52-year-old worker.

GREENPEACE PROTEST
Activists of the right-wing Hindu Shiv Sena party shouted slogans "Go Back Greenpeace!" and "Welcome Clemenceau" in Alang as Girard entered a shipyard in the town. Local environmentalists said pro-Clemenceau demonstrations were stage-managed by shipyard owners.

The shipyards, spread out along a 10-km (six miles) stretch on India s west coast, feed off cheap labour from some of India s poorest states, but jobs are threatened as ship owners - faced with India s rising awareness of environmental laws - opt for cheaper deals in neighbouring Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The 27,000-tonne carrier - which served in the 1991 Gulf war - left France in December for Alang, sparking protests from environmental groups. Greenpeace says the vessel is laden with 500 tonnes of toxic asbestos as well as polychlorinated biphenyls which are more difficult to remove than asbestos and can cause cancer. "The export of the Clemenceau from France to India is illegal and immoral," Greenpeace said in a statement. "It is scandalous that the French government continues to presume that Indians will want their waste when they give us their technology as well."

The group said it doubted that facilities in Alang could have improved overnight to deal with hazardous wastes. "We also doubt very much the capacity of His Excellency, the Ambassador of France, to carry out a technical evaluation about ship breaking facilities," it said.

The French authorities say that the most dangerous work of removing 115 tonnes of brittle asbestos had been done and the remaining estimated 45 tonnes of asbestos left was needed to keep the ship seaworthy until it was broken up.
(Planet Ark, 09/02/06)