Survivors of Tazreen Fire
Struggle not over yet
Compensation could hardly ease the sufferings of the survivors of last year’s deadly fire at Tazreen Fashions as most of the amount has been spent on their treatment.
The garment unit in Ashulia on the outskirts of the capital witnessed the deaths of as many as 112 workers in the incident on November 24 last year.Of the 1,137 survivors, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) gave 90 workers, who had been admitted to hospital with severe injuries, Tk 1 lakh each in compensation, said sources in the apex trade body on the garment industry.
Many of them said the money was not enough even as payment for their medical bills.
Besides, there were injured workers who had not even received that scanty amount as compensation.
Ale Noor, 35, is one of those who jumped off the third floor of the building, having found no safe exit on the day after the fire broke out. She received injuries to her head and chest and broke her right leg in four places from the fall.
The money she got from BGMEA ran out because of her treatment four months ago and she still needs medication worth about Tk 6,000 every month, Ale Noor told The Daily Star correspondent at her rented house at Nishchintapur, Ashulia.
She also complained that her eyes often overflowed with tears.
Her husband Md Hamiduzzaman has prepared a list of 42 seriously injured workers who live in Nishchintapur.
On the list are 16 workers who did not get any compensation from the trade body.
Hamiduzzaman used to work at a garment factory as well but could not continue with his job because his wife needed someone to take care of her all the time.
He said he had mortgaged a small piece of land he owned in Rangpur to finance the treatment of his wife.
“I don’t know how I will continue her treatment as my house rent is due for two months.”
Another Tazreen worker, Sumaiya, has not received compensation from BGMEA as her mother, panicked after looking at her injuries, rushed her to Mymensingh when the factory was still on fire and so she was not there when the authorities prepared the list of injured workers.
“We raised the fund after the disaster and disbursed all of it to workers, but Sumaiya was not there at the time,” said Jaglul Haidar, additional secretary (health) of BGMEA, when asked about the case of Sumaiya.
She had lost vision in one eye and suffered blunt head trauma. Seeing no improvement in her condition, her mother brought her back to Dhaka five months later.
Running from one hospital to another for three months, Sumaiya finally went to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where doctors identified something of deeper concern — a cancerous tumour that should have been removed earlier.
She is now undergoing treatment at United Hospital in the capital with donations from different individuals.
A study on the health condition of Tazreen workers needs to be conducted to see if there is a connection between the chemical fumes caused by the fire and the numerous complications that the workers are now suffering from, said Saydia Gulrukh, a labour rights activist, who has been working at Nishchintapur since the fire.
Expressing a similar view, Shakeel Akhtar, general secretary of Doctors for Health and Environment, said a medical team comprising specialists in different branches should be formed to monitor the pattern of ailments in the survivors.
“People can develop a diverse range of symptoms from disasters like the Tazreen fire,” he noted.
-With The Daily Star input
