Top business leaders failed to meet Opposition Leader Khaleda Zia at her Gulshan office on Monday night.
They left after submitting a memorandum for the BNP Chairperson with a call to save the $20 billion industry by ending the political unrest.
A delegation of trade and readymade garment industry leaders had met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Ganabhaban sometime earlier.
The 20-strong delegation led by BGMEA President Atiqul Islam had driven straight to Khaleda’s office around 10pm.
They handed the two-page memorandum to Khaleda’s advisor Sabih Uddin Ahmed since she was not in office at the time.
Sabih Uddin told the businessmen that he would deliver the memo to her Monday.
The apparel industry owners had earlier met Hasina and appealed for an end to the political violence.
Hasina promised them security and advised them to raise the issue of losses incurred because of shutdowns and blockades with the Leader of the Opposition.
After arriving at Khaleda’s Gulshan office, former BGMEA President Anisur Rahman Sinha sought an audience with the BNP chief.
“We have come to meet the Opposition Leader for the sake of our survival,” he told Sabih Uddin.
“The industry that has been built over 30 years is now facing ruin,” he said.
He asked Sabih Uddin to take the memorandum to Khaleda while they waited for a reply.
“We are on the brink of bankruptcy,” Atiqul Islam said. “Buyers are threatening us. We are unable to pay off bank loans.”
“In the coming days, we will not be able to pay the workers. The entire apparel industry is on the brink of ruin.”
FBCCI President Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, a member of the delegation, said, “We have met the Prime Minister. Now, we have come to tell the Opposition Leader about our problems.”
Sabih Uddin told the delegation that the BNP had contributed a lot to the industry. “The Leader of the Opposition understands your problems.”
He blamed the government for the present crisis, saying, “The problem can be resolved within a minute. All we want is a free and fair election, nothing more.”
The three trade bodies – BGMEA, BKMEA and BTMA – of the apparel industry decided to meet Hasina and Khaleda after the BNP-led 18-Party alliance extended its 72-hour nationwide blockade by 59 more hours.
A former president of both FBCCI and BGMEA, Annisul Huq, said they wanted the Opposition Leader’s assurance that the apparel industry would be kept out of the purview of strikes and blockades and vehicles carrying garment industry products would be allowed to operate.
The delegates pointed out that raw material for the industry were piling up in ports, while finished products were unable to leave the factories.
The business leaders also expressed their concern over the fire at Standard Group garment factory complex at Gazipur.
Source: Bd news24
