Sheikh Shahariar Zaman
Canada, the Netherlands and the UK are funding the $24.5m project
The government will launch a project this week to improve working conditions in the country’s readymade garments sector, which is under global scrutiny following the recent industrial tragedies of Tazreen Fashions and Rana Plaza that killed more than 1,200 workers.
“The project has five components, including a capacity building and awareness programme,” Foyzur Rahman, joint secretary of the labour and employment ministry, told the Dhaka Tribune on Saturday.
The labour ministry will implement the five-year project in coordination with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), he said.
The governments of Canada, the Netherlands and the UK Department for International Development will finance the $24.5m project, he added.
ILO Deputy Director General Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo, who arrives in Dhaka today on a three-day visit, will attend the launching ceremony on Tuesday.
The project is the combination of the government’s commitment to the sustainability “compact” launched in July in Geneva, and the national plan of action declared in Dhaka in May, a foreign ministry official said.
The initial work on one of the components assessment of fire, electrical and structural safety of factories – has already begun, another labour ministry official said.
“We have formed 30 teams, comprised of BUET engineers and other technical people, to assess the safety of buildings, fire and electrical,” he said.
The government would also develop the capacity of the labour department and the fire brigade under the programme, he added.
“Awareness building among all stakeholders is another component, and operational and health safety are the major focus,” he said.
Rehabilitation of workers injured in different accidents and introduction of a “better work programme”, managed by the ILO, are the two other components, the official said.
The government spelled out the time-bound commitments in three broad areas legislative, administrative and practice after the fire incident at Tazreen Fashions last November and the Rana Plaza collapse in April.
It also committed to reform labour laws, which it did in July. However, adoption of a national occupational safety and health plan, which was supposed to be completed by April 30, is yet to be done.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labour and Employment has already submitted a proposal to the public administration ministry to upgrade the department for inspection of factories and establishments to a directorate with 2,291 posts.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
