RMG Factory In Shared Building
Alliance gives more time for relocation
Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a group of North American retailers, has agreed to the demand from the garment factory owners for more time to relocate their (factory owners) units from shared or rented buildings. At a meeting with the factory owners at the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association auditorium in the city on Thursday, the Alliance assured the factory owners that they would not pull out their business from the units located at shared buildings but the group suggested relocation of the units.
Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, a group of European buyers, however, suggested immediate relocation of the factories located at shared buildings and some of the signatories of the group have already pull out their business from the factories located at shared buildings.
The EU retailers’ group, at a meeting on February 20, showed its strict stance on the issue.
The BGMEA leaders said that they had informed the buyers groups that it would not possible to relocate the factories overnight as 40 per cent of garment factories of the country are located at shared and rented buildings.
Seeking time for relocation of the factories, they said that pulling out business from the units located at shared buildings would not be logical and it would be a breach of their (retailers’ groups) commitments.
Accord executive director Rob Wayss after a recent meeting told reporters that they received some complaints about withdrawal of orders by some big buyers from the factories located at shared or rented buildings.
He said that Accord would look into the issue but did not disclose whether the retailers under the group would give orders to the factories located at shared or rented buildings.
Accord began their inspection of garment units of Bangladesh with four international firms for assessment of fire, electrical and structural safety of the garment units in the country.
About 70 to 80 inspectors in 40 teams will inspect more than 1,500 garment factories by September, recommend safety improvements and set a deadline for the owners to implement necessary measures.
The European retailers such as H&M, Benetton, Mango, Primark, and Adidas were among the host of big Western brands to sign Accord in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza building collapse that killed more than 1,100 people, mostly garment workers.
The government with the support from the International Labour Organisation has also begun its inspection of about 2,000 garment units which are not part of Accord and Alliance inspections.
-With New Age input
