Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) on Thursday suspended the membership of five companies located in Rana Plaza that collapsed Wednesday. Suspension or cancellation of a membership means a garment factory would not do any kind of apparel export and import of raw materials, as the BGMEA would not provide any utilisation declaration (UD) to the company. The garment manufacturers would not also receive any service from the BGMEA, a platform of the owners. The factories are: Ether Tex, New Wave Bottoms, New Wave Style, Phantom Apparels and Phantom Tac. The BGMEA also announced to give Tk 1 lakh to each family of the victims who died in the building collapse. “We have suspended the membership and all activities of the factories, as these remained open despite a shutdown instruction from the BGMEA,” said Reaz-Bin-Mahmood, vice-president (Finance) of the BGMEA. “We want legal action against those responsible for the tragedy in Savar on the outskirts of the capital,” he said while speaking at a press briefing at the association’s premises in Dhaka. According to BGMEA directory, 377 workers were supposed to be in Ether Tex, 526 in New Wave Bottoms, 1,073 in New Wave Style, 739 in Phantom Apparels and 407 in Phantom Tac during the collapse.
Source: The Daily star
