The 70-death collapse of the Spectrum garment in April 2005 could have been the wakeup call for the country’s policymakers, that could have prevented the over 1,000-death Rana Plaza collapse.
But over a span of nine years, everything about the deadly collapse have virtually sled into oblivion, let alone the victims getting justice.
This now can be another wakeup call itself for the victims and their relatives of the Rana Plaza disaster, especially for those who have been waiting for justice.
On April 11, 2005, the nine-storey factory building of Spectrum Garments in Palashbari of Savar crashed, killing around 70 people and injuring at least a hundred.
A boiler explosion and also faulty construction have been blamed for the collapse. The building, erected on a marshland, had several unapproved floors.
On May 24, 2005, about a month after the collapse, the High Court granted bail to Shahriar alias Sayeed Hossain, managing director of the collapse sweater factory building, and Abul Hasem Fakir, a director of the factory. The two accused were later discharged from a trial court on consideration that the case was filed by police and not by any of the victims’ families.
On the same day, following a writ petition, filed by four injured workers in association with several rights bodies, the High Court issued a rule asking the government why it should not be directed to form a commission headed by a sitting or a retired Supreme Court judge to inquire into the collapse, find the culprits and suggest ways to prevent recurrence.
The High Court is yet to settle that petition, with only BGMEA and Rajuk among the respondents answering the ruling. But the hearing on the petition never quite gained any pace with files containing BGMEA and Rajuk’s replies going mysteriously missing.
Insiders said the “lost” file containing BGMEA’s reply actually admitted, following a probe by a 14-member team, that the Spectrum building had several additional floors on top of the approved ones.
Rajuk, in its reply, said just like the collapsed building, many other structures in the area had been built on filled marshlands.
Garment Workers’ Unity Forum President Moshrefa Mishu said: “Justice delayed is justice denied. The state will have to bring the culprits to justice after such incidents and must recognise an obligation about providing sufficient compensation for the victims. If that does not happen, such incidents cannot be prevented.”
Anthropologist Saydia Gulrukh, whose organisation is dealing with case against the owner of Tazreen Fashions, said: “If everyone responsible for the faulty construction of the Spectrum Factory [building] could be brought to book, the Rana Plaza collapse could have been prevented... By everyone, I mean all the government officials from the factory inspection department and the local administration.”