The Bangladesh Garment Buying House Association on Tuesday urged the government to give instructions to the Bangladesh missions abroad to sit with the buyers
and inform them about the government initiatives over the recent Savar tragedy.
Overseas buyers have expressed grave concern over the workplace standard in Bangladesh following the recent collapse of Rana Plaza, a nine-storey building that housed
five garment factories
along with other business establishments, killing nearly 400 garment
workers.
To earn confidence of the buyers the government and authorities concerned need to take prompt action over all the incidents in the garment sector
including Rana Plaza collapse, leaders of the association told a news conference held at a hotel in the city.
BGBA president Kazi Iftekhar Hossain said after the Saver tragedy the real scenario of the garment sector, structural
condition of the factory buildings and living standards and safety of the workers were now becoming questionable.
To protect the garment industry from the present crisis the BGBA placed an eight-point recommendation to the government and other concerned at the news conference.
The recommendations included forming separate ministry for the garment industry, giving necessary logistic support to the small and medium entrepreneurs to compliant their units, checking the structural safety of the factory buildings and giving certificates, ensuring implementation of law including building code and labour law,
counselling and arbitration for the workers and giving proper compensation for the victims of all fire incidents and building collapse.
Citing an example of buyers’ present attitude BGBA vice-president Md Anwar Shahid said recently a China importing
company showed keen interest to shift its yearly source of RMG products worth $3.5 billion to
Bangladesh. But now it is fully disappointed due to the building collapse at Savar.
‘The company informed us that before negotiating with new orders, a team will visit Bangladesh to observe the situation,’ he said.
-With New Age input
