Nazmul Islam, a knitting worker who survived the blaze at Gazipur’s Aswad Composite Mills on Tuesday, said tears rolled from his eyes when he received his Eid bonus and salaries on Thursday.
“I just felt that the family members of the seven people who died in the fire, are alone and had no one left for them to take the bonus money to their home,” he added.
Ruhul Amin, a knitting supervisor at the factory, said it was pleasant for the garment workers to receive Eid bonus and salary in due time, but added with remorse that he felt something was missing and the timely salaries meant nothing without the people who died to save the workers’ lives.
Taslima Begum, a sewing operator of the factory, said the workers came to the factory on Thursday after the authorities had declared that bonus and salaries would be paid. The workers were unsure whether the authorities would keep their words following the devastating fire at the factory which killed seven people, Taslima added.
Our Gazipur correspondent reported that such timely payments ahead of festivals had always been reason for workers to celebrate. But workers at Aswad Composite Mills, still mourning the loss of their colleagues, silently waited in queue on Thursday for receiving their payment.
Abdul Halim, administrative director of the factory, told the Dhaka Tribune that salary and bonuses were given to around 4,500 workers in the factory from 4:30pm on Thursday. It was unprecedented for a company to pay salary and bonuses to its employees, just a day after such a devastating accident, he added.
Meanwhile, the probe body formed to investigate the incident of the factory fire had begun its activities, informed Akteruzzaman Liton, deputy
assistant director of fire service and civil defense of Gazipur.
He said officials had collected pictures from the site of the fire and talked with factory workers, but added that it was still not possible to determine how the fire originated or to estimate the losses.
Earlier on Tuesday, seven factory employees were killed while trying to douse the flame at Gazipur’s Aswad Composite Mills.
District administration provided Tk20,000 in compensation to the victims’ families, while the company authorities also provided Tk50,000 to each family for burial purposes. The factory owners have also announced Tk500,000 in compensation for families of each victim.
