Dhaka: Shipbreaking yards in South Asia should be closed as they are not environmentally safe, economically beneficial and socially productive, the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association urged. Rizwana Hasan, head of the association, pointed out that Chittagong, a key site for shipbreaking in South Asia, has suffered from almost irreversible environmental damage where thousands of acres of mangrove forests have disappeared and 14 species of fish have become extinct.She asserted that the beaches of South Asia, in particular Bangladesh, are not dumping grounds for unwanted ships and the lives of the poor labourers are not cheap to play with.South Asia's shipbreaking industry provides livelihood to some 18,000 workers, who are mostly young and untrained for ship demolition works.Hasan rejected IMO regulations which placed responsibility on shipbreakers and not on Western shipowners who are largely responsible for contamination.She added that the shipowners are evading responsibilities by sending the ships to places like Monrovia to change flags and then send them to South Asia for shipbreaking to avoid environmental binding and regulations.