TIB survey reveals involvement of owners, buyers, govt
All the stakeholders in the garment sector, including owners, buyers, labour leaders and government agencies, are more or less involved in corruption and irregularities, a TIB study has found.
Owners are involved in irregularities related to technical and social compliance issues while buyers help make fake audit reports, according to the Transparency International Bangladesh study.
In many cases, owners set up factories without complying with building codes and fire safety rules and even build factories in residential areas, it said.
In most cases, owners do not give appointment letters and pay slips to the workers. They instead prepare fake salary sheets to show buyers that they pay higher wages to workers.
Many international buyers, for their part, are giving orders to non-compliant factories in exchange of underhand dealings or commissions, the report said.
In many cases, buyers withhold payments on various grounds mainly to get discount or commission, it added.
Garment owners pay between Tk 7 lakh and Tk 20 lakh in bribe to collect certificates and get other services from 17 government institutions for setting up an industrial unit, according to the report.
In exchange of money, many trade union leaders also work in favour of the owners, it said.
“Corruption in the apparel industry took institutional shape mainly due to lack of transparency, accountability and good governance,” Dr Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of TIB, told a press conference at the Jatiya Press Club yesterday.
The press conference was held to share the findings of its latest research on the sector, titled “RMG Sector: Problems of Good Governance and Way Forward”.
The survey was done between June and October this year covering over 80 factories in Dhaka, Ashulia, Gazipur and Jatrabari — the main garment industry belt.
The survey was based on interviews with owners, officials and workers of these factories, BGMEA representatives and government officials.
The Berlin-based corruption monitoring agency demanded that the government bring to justice those involved in irregularities and abuse of power, to ensure smooth growth of the vital sector.
“There’s no alternative to bringing them to justice. If we don’t show the courage to face the challenge, bigger disasters might take place in the readymade garment industry,” said Iftekharuzzaman.
The industry lacks coordination with the government agencies, he said.
He also spoke of establishing a separate ministry for the industry to give a big boost to the sector by addressing challenges of occupational, safety and compliance issues.
He said the government and industry stakeholders need to work together to ensure good governance in the sector.
Garment industry is a vital sector that employs around 40 lakh people, mostly women, and accounts for 14-15 percent of the GDP, said TIB Chairperson Sultana Kamal.
“It is our responsibility to save the industry. So, all related parties, including the BGMEA, should do away with the blame game after any incident [accident],” she said.
Some 10 percent parliament members are directly involved in the RMG sector, increasing the risk of making decisions in favour of certain individuals and groups, the report said.
In many cases, the BGMEA does not perform its duties properly and rather gets involved in matters that are beyond its scope of work. This creates scope for political interference in the sector.
Contacted, BGMEA President Atiqul Islam said: “We won’t make any comment on it now, as we did not read the report.”
-With The Daily Star input
