The garment workers’ agitations continued for the sixth consecutive day Thursday amid claims from apparel makers that the unrest has so far hampered production of readymade garment worth Tk3bn.
Like the last five days, Thursday’s protest was also marked by blockades and separate incidents of vandalism in Savar, Ashulia, Gazipur and Narayanganj areas, where hundreds of workers from different garment factories locked in clashes with police, leaving around 50, including 20 policemen, injured.
The Border Guard Bangladesh and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) were deployed alongside regular and industrial police forces to take the situation under control.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) claimed that the sector would have to count almost Tk5bn in losses because of the unrest as production worth Tk3bn had already been delayed while another Tk2bn would be needed if they had to go for air-shipment to meet the deadlines.
BGMEA Vice-President Shahidullah Azim said: “The sector has to count at least Tk5bn in losses, but this is an initial assessment the actual amount of loss might go beyond that.”
According to the BGMEA data, 2,000 factories were forced to suspend production on September 21, the first day of the unrest, while 960 units in Gazipur, Ashulia and Dhaka suffered the same fate on the following four days.
Factories in Gazipur area produced 25%, Narayanganj 20%, Chittagong 15% and Ashulia, Savar Dhaka and other areas produced 40% each, of the total export-oriented garment products, claimed the BGMEA.
Given the statistics, production of nearly Tk3bn has so far been hampered because of the unrest, said BGMEA Vice-President Reaz-Bin-Mahmood.
Some factory owners had also suffered huge losses as 65 factories had been vandalised, 15 set ablaze and 70 vehicles had been damaged, he said.
On the sixth day, meanwhile, at least 25 factories in Narayanganj had suspended production, claimed Reaz.
Workers from many factories in Ashulia and Savar also took to streets shortly after joining work.
Witnesses said workers from two factories at Kathgora in Ashulia area came out of their factories around 8:30am and started demonstrating. They put blockades on Bishmail-Zirabo Road.
At one point police chased the workers and charged truncheons to disperse the crowd, who retaliated with throwing bricks. Workers at Masuka Apparels protested inside the factory.
Garment employees in Savar staged demonstrations by putting barricades on the Dhaka-Tangail Highway. The situation was brought under control with the deployment of BGB.
In Gazipur, workers from different factories at first launched demonstrations and clashed with the law enforcers. However, they too were dispersed by police, but the streets remained empty and all the factories closed.
Our Correspondent in Narayanganj reported that Shibu Market area in Fatulla turned into a battlefield as police and garment workers locked into an hour-long clash on the Dhaka-Narayanganj road.
During the clash, police fired rubber bullets and teargas canisters while the workers pelted stones, leaving around 50 injured.
Witnesses said hundreds of male and female workers from different factories had put blockades on the Dhaka-Narayanganj road, stopping vehicle movements from 9am to 2pm. They had also set fire to tyres and put large logs on the road.
A clash erupted around noon when the industrial police took attempt to disperse the demonstrators from the road.
Officer-in-Charge at Fatulla model police station Md Akter Hossain said they had been forced to go into action to clear the traffic system.
Masud Ahmed, acting director of industrial police unit 4, said the attacks by the workers had left at least 20 policemen injured. Three of them were undergoing treatment at Khanpur Hospital in the town with serious injuries.
He said the police had used a hundred rounds of rubber bullets and a few teargas shells to disperse the mob.
