Bangladesh Employers’ Federation yesterday demanded of the authorities concerned to set up a garment village to accommodate the apparel factories and avert fatal incident like Savar.
It also stressed the need for conducting a fair investigation into the Savar tragedy and punishing the people responsible for the incident.
The BEF urged all concerned, particularly the owners of industrial units, to remain careful at individual level to avert such serious accident in the future.
“We need to come out from the blame-game culture. We need to be more responsible and the owners must play a very active role in this regard,” BEF President M Fazlul Hoque told a press conference at the conference room of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI).
He stressed on immediate steps so no one could go unpunished, he said.
Hoque, also a former president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), demanded setting up of a garment village to accommodate factories and avert such incident.
“The apparel industry is growing in an unplanned way. We need a well-organised industrial area for any industry,” he said. “If we look at the Export Processing Zones (EPZs), we see lesser casualties even when an accident takes place there.”
He urged the owners to provide capable members of the affected families with jobs on a priority basis. “We’ll soon hold a meeting with the ILO so that steps can be taken to ensure jobs for those who will turn disabled following the accident,” he said.
Some 381 bodies were recovered from the debris of the Rana Plaza as of Monday noon as the death toll from the tragedy continues to go up. Some 2,444 people were rescued alive from the debries.
