The relocation of tanneries in Hazaribagh to the leather industrial park in Savar on the outskirts of the capital is likely to be completed by June this year, said sources in the leather industry.
They said the 72-hour ultimatum given by Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu was not for all the tanneries that have been alloted space in the industrial park, but for the errant few who have not made any progress in relocating to Savar.
Amu on Sunday said the government would shut down the tannery factories if they failed to relocate to the Savar industrial park, specifically designed for these factories, within 72 hours.
The ultimatum came after the government-fixed deadline for relocation expired on December 31 last year. Amu also directed the authorities concerned to cancel the plots allotted to the factories who would fail to meet the ultimatum and take legal action.
“That warning is for those factory owners who have failed to make any significant progress in the construction of their new factory premises, or have halted the construction work,” said Abdul Quayum, project director of the Savar leather industrial park.
“The 72-hour ultimatum is not for all the factories which have been granted plots in the park; it is only for 10 or 12 factories that have not made headway in the relocation,” said Shaheen Ahmed, chairman of Bangladesh Tanners’ Association.
“The relocation work is going on in full swing and 20 factories have already completed construction of their new premises. I hope the relocation will be complete by the end of June this year,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.
The factories whose construction is finished will be able to start production by March-April, while the construction of other factories is in progress, he added.
Urging the government to provide low cost fund, Shaheen said: “The progress is slow due to shortage of fund. It will cost about Tk6,000 crore to relocate the factories and to start production in the new establishment.”
He also said the construction of the Central Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) has yet to finish as 40% of the work remains unfinished. “I hope it will be complete by March.”
“Most of the work to set up the CETP is complete; we are going to do a test run with two of its four units by January 30,” Quayum told the Dhaka Tribune.
“We are capable to process waste of about 50 factories with the two units that are ready to go operational, but only 20 factories are ready to start production by next month,” he added.
“As per the minister’s directives, we are going to serve legal notice on Tuesday [today] to the factory owners who have not made any visible progress to relocate to the park.”
The Ministry of Industries decided to relocate the tannery factories from their current location in the capital’s Hazaribagh area amid pressure from the rights group, environmental activists and buyers concerned with its hazardous effects on the public health and environment.
It allocated plots to 155 tannery owners through Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industry Corporation (BSCIC) at the leather industrial park, established on a 200-acre land in Savar.
The government is processing the allotment plots to the rest of the tanneries in Hazaribagh that did not get a place in Savar.
