The family members of Rana Plaza victims especially those who lost their lives in the building collapse are still fighting for compensation from the government as well as the authorities concerned.
“It is better to die. How I can maintain my family with a scanty amount of money I have received from the government and buyers as compensation for the death of my only son,” said Md Akmal Gazi, father of Rabiul Islam who was killed in the Rana Plaza building collapse last year.
“Since my son had obtained bachelor’s degree, I hoped that he would take the helm of my family. Even though he did it, the building collapse had shattered my dream,” Akmal said in an emotion-choked voice.
He has so far received Tk1 lakh from the Prime Minister’s Fund and Tk30,000 from buyers as compensation for the loss of the life of his beloved son.
Pakhi Begum, who worked as a sewing operator at Ether Tex, had lost her two legs in the worst factory disaster on April 24 last year.
She got Tk15 lakh as compensation from the Prime Minister’s Fund and Tk45,000 from buyers. Also, she was getting Tk8,000 every month from Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
Pakhi is now living in her village home and maintaining her family with financial assistance she received from PM’s Fund and other sources.
Rana Plaza, an eight-storey building that housed five garment factories, collapsed at Savar on the outskirts of Dhaka city on April 24 last year, killing 1,135 workers and injuring 2,500.
Like Akmal, most of the people who lost their earning members are suffering severe financial hardship as they have got less compensation from the government and other authorities concerned.
According to the latest data of BGMEA, the Prime Minister has so far distributed over Tk22.13 crore to 909 victims as financial assistance.
Several organisations, including banks and insurance companies, as well as individuals and garment owners have so far donated over Tk127 crore to the PM’s Fund.
BGMEA, however, collected Tk14 crore from its members and spent Tk12 crore for victims’ treatment and wages while it donated TK2 crore to the PM’s Fund for compensation.
Altab Hossain, father of Al-Amin who worked at Rana Plaza, told the Dhaka Tribune that he got only Tk1 lakh from the prime minister and Tk20,000 for funeral.
“Only Tk1.20 lakh as compensation can make up for the loss of my son’s life,” he said, venting his anger on the government and buyers as well as the factory owners.
A $40 million “Trust Fund” had been formed by IndustriAll, UNI Global Union and Clean Clothes Campaign in cooperation with the International Labour Organisation to compensate the victims of the worst factory disaster.
Currently, the Trust Fund has $17m of which $9m will be distributed to 581 victims, who worked for New Wave Bottom, by the British retailer Primark. The rest would be used to compensate other workers as per Article 121 of ILO convention.
“It’s very unfortunate that the global retailers are making hefty sourcing from Bangladesh, but they are not paying compensation to the victims of Rana Plaza,” said Sirajul Islam Rony, president of Bangladesh National Garment Workers-Employees League.
He added: “We are still hopeful that the buyers would come up with enough compensation.”
Though the buyers were supposed to provide compensation to the victims’ family members and injured workers, they are yet to show good response, said a factory owner preferring anonymity.
“The buyers only donated $8m to Trust Fund while many buyers like Walmart are not providing any financial support to the fund,” he said.
Meanwhile, garment workers and trade union leaders have claimed that due to lack of coordination, the amount of proper compensation has not been set and compensation not paid to the victims in proper way.
“From now, compensation should be coordinated and integrated as there is a trust fund where the buyers, government, trade unions and other stakeholders are involved,” said Roy Ramesh Chandra, secretary general of IndustriAll Bangladesh Council.
Calling on the government to come up with a permanent solution to the compensation issue, he said the country has witnessed several industrial incidents, but no mechanism has been developed yet.
“I am hopeful of getting 40 million funds for compensation as the global brands are facing mounting pressure from consumers and rights groups,” he added.
