Experts and garment factory owners on Tuesday put emphasis on formulating rules and regulations for the overseas engineers who would inspect garment factories under the initiatives of global retailers. They said that there should be a provision for the foreign engineers of taking approval from Institution of Engineers Bangladesh or any other professional institutions to work in Bangladesh.
The observation came at a time when the EU Accord is going to start its factory inspection in Bangladesh today.
In an exchange of views with housing and public works minister Mosharraf Hossain on building, fire and electrical safety assessment of readymade garment factories, the garment exporters expressed their fear that during the inspection the EU Accord and North American Alliance might impose some tough conditions as the inspection would be conducted by the foreign engineers who were not habituated with the environment of Bangladesh.
The meeting was held at the auditorium of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association in the capital.
In the meeting, the garment factory owners also demanded approval for operation of the factories those were established without complying with the rules and regulations.
‘I will urge the government to enact a law immediately so that the foreign engineers will require professional approval to work in Bangladesh,’ said Jamilur Reza Choudhury, vice-chancellor of University of Asia Pacific.
It needs to make mandatory taking registration for those who will come to Bangladesh to inspect garment factories, he said.
If any quarter plots to destroy the RMG sector, all have to resist them in the integrated way, Jamilur said.
The housing and public works minister assured that the government would set a guideline for the overseas engineers to take approval before start of inspection. Inclusion of local experts in the inspection team will be mandatory, he said.
The minister said that the government would form a committee for offering special approval to operate the factories those were established in unplanned way.
The operation approval will be issued in short time after visiting the factories by a RAJUK-lead tem, Mosharraf said.
‘As a sovereign state we cannot accept any foreign engineers in our factories without approval and they must have to take permission to work in Bangladesh,’ the minister said.
BGMEA president Atiqul Islam said the RMG sector was under threat as the initiatives of retailers had imposed tough conditions in their standards bypassing National Tripartite Plan of Action.
He said that the EU Accord had already appointed four foreign firms and experts will assess the safety standard in the garment factories in Bangladesh.
‘The foreign engineers are not used to the environment of Bangladesh and the loyalty of overseas engineers and local engineers will not be the same; so we are in fear,’ Atiqul said.
He urged the government to sit with the global initiatives to ensure participation of local experts in the inspection team and to make mandatory taking the approval by foreign engineers.
RAJUK chairman Nurul Huda, Engineers Institution of Bangladesh president M Shamim Z Basunia, and BUET professors Ishtiaq Ahmed, Maksud Helali and A Hasib Chowdhury spoke at the programme.
-With New Age input
