Housing facilities for tannery workers demanded

Rights group and trade union leaders have demanded housing facilities for tannery workers as they have to change residence after the relocation of Tanneries to Savar Leather Industrial State from Hazaribagh of Dhaka. Trade union leaders, civil society members came up with the call at a seminar titled “Relocation of Tanneries: Hazaribagh to Savar a reality”. The discussion was jointly organised by Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD) Bangladesh Environment Layers Association (BELA), Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services (BLAST), Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS) Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA), Brotee Samaj Kallyan Sangstha (Brotee) and Nijera Kori. “Civil society, rights group, environmentalists, owners and the government are discussing about the Central Effluent Treatment Plants (CETP), environmental hazards. But neither the government nor the owners of tanneries take any steps about the housing facilities for the workers,” said Abul Kalam Azad, president of Tannery Workers Union. According to Tannery Workers Union, there are about 30,000 workers in the process of leather, which went up during the peak season centring the Eid-Ul-Azha. There were pledges from the owners as well as the government that there will have hospitals, housing and other facilitates for the workers but they did not keep their promise, alleged Azad. “The government as well as the owners has to take measures for ensuring housing facilities for the tannery workers,” said Iqbal Habib, an architect. “Otherwise, the workers would be deprived of their rights and it would be great problem for the sector.”