Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) in a recent letter to the ministry of commerce (MoC) requested the government to allocate closed and loss-making state-owned enterprises (SoEs) to relocate their factories by creating small-sized apparel zones. The industry body seeks the SoEs located near the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway for the purpose.

The idea is to move the apparel making factories to safer areas quickly. Since SoEs have gas and electricity connections, the factories can begin their apparel production immediately after relocation of units. In the letter the BGMEA mentioned that many of the apparel factories have been partly or fully closed because of the ongoing inspection carried out by different local and foreign agencies to check compliance factors.

The BGMEA chief also said in the letter that presently around 40 per cent factories are housed in shared buildings, where around 1.5 million workers are employed. Many of these have ability to ensure common safety standards, structural and electricity safety and other safety measures. However, risk-prone ones need immediate attention.

Till September 30, the inspection teams of Alliance, Accord, and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) closed down 29 factories after assessing 2,061 units. The trio is assigned the duty of assessing fire, electricity and structural safety of 3,500 garment factories by this December.  The safety assessment is being carried out as part of the action plan forwarded by the United States and the European Union after last year's deadly Rana Plaza collapse, which claimed 1,137 lives and injured many garment workers.

www.bgmea.com.bd