Staff Reporter :The lighter vessel workers on Friday threatened to call an indefinite countrywide strike on transport of goods through waterways from January 6 if they are not allowed to ply their water vessels by January 5 through Shela River. The leaders of Lighter Vessel Workers Association issued the threat as UN experts on Wednesday recommended halting plying of water vessels through the Sundarbans to avert further environmental disasters.Considering the environmental aspects, the movement of water vessels through the mangrove forest should not be continued, they mentioned.According to Amelia Walstrom, the chief of the joint UN-Bangladesh mission, while a number of factors limited the impacts of the spill, the shipping of oil through the sensitive forest Sundarbans presents a serious risk to both the environment and the communities that depend on it for their livelihoods.Terming the December-9 oil spill incident a serious wake-up call, the UN expert said the main shorelines 40-km up- and downstream of the site shows varying degree of pollution. The UN-government expert team observed that environmental emergencies like oil spills and industrial accidents represent a particular type of emergency and demand a specific approach.
