Ensure safety of workers


PM asks industries; alerts against sabotage

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday asked businessmen to ensure safety at their industrial units to prevent a repeat o

f Saturday’s deadly fire that killed 111 workers at a garment factory in Ashulia.

The government has already formed a number of committees to investigate how poor security standards led to so many deaths in the fire at Tazreen Fashion Ltd, Hasina said in her speech at the inauguration of the fifth Texbangla, a biennial exhibition by primary textile entrepreneurs at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in the capital.

“We will take action against the company on receiving reports of those committees.”

The saddest part of the Ashulia incident was that fire-fighters could not bring the fire under control immediately for lack of water sources near the factory, she said, though the area earlier had many water bodies like canals and lakes.

“Set up factories but do not fill the water bodies near them,” the PM said and suggested building water bodies near the factories so that water could be easily fetched from there to douse fire.

Hasina also asked the businessmen to keep emergency exits when they set up factories so that workers could rush out in a short time on hearing fire alarms.

She told the businessmen to remain alert because “there were reports that a vested quarter was trying to set garment factories on fire in efforts to ruin the sector.”

Assuring that the industrial units would be provided with adequate gas connections, the PM said her government would float tenders soon for gas and oil exploration in the parts of the Bay of Bengal that Bangladesh recently won in a legal battle with Myanmar.

Hasina said she was not re-elected in the 2001 polls for going against gas export to two mighty countries. “The two countries [which she did not name] were discontented with me. Still, I continued to oppose gas export.”

At the programme, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said the government would be able to announce seven special economic zones (SEZs) by January. Once the SEZs go into operation, local and foreign investors will get all the facilities required for business.

He was optimistic that the price of electricity would be reduced by 2016-17 as gas supply might increase in the meantime.

AK Azad, outgoing president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said Bangladesh would gain the capacity to export ready-made garments worth $50billion within the next five years if the government could ensure enough gas and power supply to the industrial units.

He urged the government to allow Japanese and Turkish investors in the 3000acres of land of Korean Export Processing Zone in Chittagong.

Bangladesh Textile Mills Association President Jahangir Alamin said the local companies could now supply 90 percent yarn to the export-oriented knitwear factories and 40 percent to the export-oriented woven garment factories.

Source: The Daily Star