Ruling party members blamed for the trouble

RED ALERT IN GARMENT SECTOR
Ruling party members blamed for the trouble
Abdur Rahman Khan
County’s export oriented garments industries have been facing grave uncertainty posing a threat to the vital foreign currency earnings and job opportunity of the huge female workers.
It is the law and order situation that has been causing concern for the garments manufacturers and exporters of the country. A thrust sector of the country, the ready-made garments sector fetches as much as 76 per cent of our total export earnings by engaging 35 lakh workers, mostly female workers.
In the last couple of months, garments manufacturers and exporters have lodged complaints with the police for at least 25 specific cases of threat, 24 cases of extortion, many attacks and looting of export consignments. Recently, they held a meeting with the Home Minister Advocate Shahara Khatun at BGMEA office to discuss their problems and sought help from the government.
However, in spite of the assurance from the Home Minister, the incidents of attacks on factories, extortion and even murder of the father-in-law of a garment factory owner in the city last week continue to cause panic among the manufacturers and exporters.
The situation is alarming in the garments manufacturing zones of the city and the suburban areas of Savar, Ashulia, Gazipur, Fatullah and Narayanganj. Only last week, 15 garments factories were attacked and damaged in Fatullah BSCIC area. The goons, many of them having strong links with the ruling party, not only demanded extortion but also instigating labour trouble to force the owners pay extortion.
In another incident at Ashulia last week, workers became violent, put barricade on the highway and damaged five factories in demand of payment of arrear salary of a particular factory.
In Naraynagnj, ruling party men are blamed to be the trouble mongers. The business involving auction of garments waste continued to be a bone of contention among the goons who creates law and order situation in the factory areas.
A ruling party lawmaker, Shariar Alam, who is also a BGMEA member, sensed conspiracy against the garment industry and the law and order.
Alarmed by the deteriorating law and order situation, Garment exporters expressed grave concerns over the goons demanding tolls from the factory owners and attacking the factories.
Leaders of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association vented their resentment in an emergency press conference in the BGMEA office in Dhaka in the backdrop of goons’ attack on the car of a garment factory owner and the killing of his father-in-law.
We are not satisfied with how the authorities are dealings with the law and order while commitment of the government in this regard shows zero outcomes,’ said the BGMEA president, Abdus Salam Murshedy.
Providing a list of 24 garment owners, who received threats from goons or whose factories were attacked in the past three months or so, Murshedy said, ‘many more garment owners are in fear of goons and even dare not notify the law enforcers.
BGMEA leaders demanded exemplary punishment for the goons and urged government to enhance security measures in factories and transportation of goods. He demanded immediate activation of industrial police force that had been promised by the government.
Bangladesh Knitwear manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) categorically mentioned the name of a local Sramik League leader for instigating attacks on their factories in Narayanganj.
BKMEA president Fazlul Huq told the press that the recent troubles in their factories in Narayanganj were not created by the workers but the hired goons and outsiders enjoying patronization from influential leaders of the ruling party.

Courtesy of Weekly Holiday