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Decaying fibre glass boats pose health and environment hazzards
The absence of a recycling mechanism for decaying fibre glass boats could pose a hazzard to people and animals, a Fisheries Department official has warned.
Director General, Christy Fernando said the Fisheries Department is unable to solve the problem as there is no recycling facility for scrap fibre glass.
The Sunday Times learns that thousands of unused boats anchored along the sea shore and banks of lagoon have been abandoned by fishermen as they are no longer sea worthy.
The Fisheries Department’s attempts to dispose of the decaying boats to overseas buyers too have come to naught. He said that although Holcim Lanka Ltd has shown interest in taking the scrap they were not ready to transport the boat in full.
It is learned that the cement factory wanted the Fisheries Department to crush the boats to small pieces to facilitate transportation. “The process will cost us a lot of money. So we abandoned the idea,” Mr. Fernando said.
Fibre glass can be used to power kilns in cement factories.
Mr. Fernando said the decaying boats that are anchored on shore can cause navigational problems to vessels at sea by obstructing the view. Further the worn out paint on the body of the boats can emit toxic waste into the environment causing health problems.
Residents in the vicinity oblivious of the harmful effect of the the toxic chemical sometimes use the wood in the hull and deck as fire wood.
The boats that are anchored in the same spot for a long time can also be harmful to the fauna and flora in the vicinity. Strangulation can be caused to sea birds and invertebrates also face threat of strangulation by feeding on the particles of fibre glass.
Ground water contamination and dengue breeding sites are other problems that could arise he said.