Every country needs cooperation of others in its efforts to move forward. Import and export of goods, services, technology and manpower figure prominently in the international cooperation, which is indispensable for a country that desires sustainable development and requires foreign currency. The garment and knitwear sector fetches the highest amount of foreign currency for Bangladesh. It is contributing to the gross domestic product (GDP) growth as well as the per capita income. The sector still has far greater potential to develop. Garment and knitting factories are employing unskilled and semi-skilled poor women, creating new industrialists, professional managers and technical experts. For example, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) supplying different inputs to the garment and knitting factories have flourished. A good number of traders like those working for buying houses have emerged. All have contributed to the increase in employment generation. On the other hand, the increased income of the people concerned has created a demand for goods and services resulting in enhanced production and trading activities as well.
But the recent devastating Tazreen Fashions fire and the Rana Plaza collapse have created a situation that threatens even survival of the sector. Many factory buildings in the garment and knitting sector have not been designed by professional architects and constructed by professional civil engineers. Many of the multistory factory buildings have not been designed keeping in view the load and vibration generated by power generators and other equipment as well as the load of production inputs and labour. The fire safety has totally been ignored during designing and constructing the buildings.
Demonstrations of readymade garment (RMG) workers and destruction of many factories have been witnessed in the recent years. Frequent labour unrests disrupted operation of the factories and caused loss of lives, production and properties. No doubt the too low wage of workers is one of the major factors behind resentment amongst hundreds of thousands of workers as their living costs are very high now.
Many factories have failed to arrange safe working environment. But factory buildings are to be designed and constructed by professional architects and engineers by following the government-approved building codes and the fire safety guidelines. Otherwise, the devastating loss of lives and properties will recur as we saw in the cases of Rana Plaza, Tazreen Fashions etc. Export licences should be issued based on the certificates of architects and engineers to the effect that the factory buildings have been designed and constructed by following the building codes. The fire safety clearance from the Fire Service and Civil Defence Department should also be looked into during issuance of the export licence.
It is common that a factory building has a single narrow staircase. All the windows are blocked by steel grille to prevent workers from pilfering garment materials through windows. As a result, at the time of any devastating fire the workers cannot escape and the materials cannot be saved. Construction of 5 to 6 feet wide outer verandas on every floor of a factory building with two and a half feet high railing and without any hanging sunshade can improve the environment so that in case of any fire the workers could come out to the verandas. Fire escape can be created instantly putting a ladder or a rope using the railing as a support. The roof without any sunshade will help the fume pass fast. The wide veranda will also help avert any theft of garment materials etc.
The workers must be remunerated fairly so that they can lead decent life. The government has formed a Wage Board to re-fix the minimum and other wages of garment and knitting factory workers. Advice may be given to the board not to fix the minimum wage at a figure less than the minimum aggregate wage of a public sector worker. Group insurance covering life and accidental risks for every worker is to be made mandatory for the garment and knit factory employers. Owners have to follow provisions of the Labour Law 2006 in the case of permanent, full or partial disability of a worker occurring in an accident. It is to be made mandatory that in the event of absence of insurance, double compensation is to be given to the victims by the employer. It is learnt that, on an average, a Chinese garment worker gets wage that is four to five times higher than that of a Bangladeshi worker. A Vietnamese worker gets what is three times higher than that of a Bangladeshi worker. Even an Indian worker gets more than double the wage of a Bangladeshi worker.
Concentration of so many labour-intensive factories at a particular location is another significant factor behind the unrest that our new industrialists ignored at the time of selecting the factory sites. There are a few garment and knitwear factory hubs in Dhaka city, Chittagong city, Fatulla, Ashulia and Savar. In every hub three to five hundred factories are operating. When a labour unrest tales place in one factory, it spreads within a few hours to the nearby factories and sometimes throughout the whole hub. It is not rational to set up so many labour-intensive factories at a particular place.
Then the question may arise how many labour-intensive factories should be located at one place. Indeed, it has no hard and fast rule. It depends on the quantity of workers, educational background of workers and attitude of workers in a particular society. When the number of workers is small, more factories can be set up at a particular location, but when the number of workers is large, the less number of factories should be set up in the particular location. When more educated workers are engaged in a venture, more organisations in a location may not create any trouble. But when layman workers are engaged in a venture, concentration of too many organisations at the same location is not suggested. In a society where the behaviour of most people is rational, too many factories can be set up in a location and vice versa.
On an average, garment factories or knitwear factories in Bangladesh engage more than 1,000 people. The people over here, in general, are too emotional. Most of the workers are not even having elementary education. Considering all these significant factors, 80 to 100 factories may be located at a particular location in Bangladesh.
In each of different garment and knitting hubs more than one hundred factories have been set up. It is observed that even a petty labour problem or a rumour in one factory spreads to neighbouring factories within an hour and frequently leads to a riot-like situation. Ultimately, all the factories have to close operation for the time being. The promoters of labour-intensive ventures should keep in mind the above important factors at the time of selecting locations of their factories.
The government has to come forward to develop small industrial estates. When safe and properly-designed factory buildings are constructed at different locations, the unskilled and semi-skilled workers of those particular areas get the employment opportunities. The government should develop small industrial estates near the highways where 80 to 100 factories can be set up.
The estate should be located at least one kilometre away from the main highway connected by a road. It will keep the highway unaffected in the event of any labour unrest in an estate. Small industrial estates can be set up in areas connected by link roads with the Dhaka-Kishoreganj highway, the Dhaka-Comilla highway, Dhaka-Mymensingh highway, Dhaka-Manikganj highway, Dhaka-Munshiganj highway, Dhaka-Tangail highway, Chittagong-Feni highway, Chittagong-Cox's Bazar highway, Sylhet-Kishoreganj highway, Rajshahi-Natore highway, Bogra-Natore highway, Bogra-Sirajganj highway, Rangpur-Lalmonirhat highway and so on. Plots need to be leased out to industrialists for, maybe, fifty years against cash payment. Preference is to be given to the industrialists who are intending to relocate their factories from Dhaka city, Chittagong City and the Ashulia garment hub and the Narayanganj knitting hub. As implementation of the suggestion is time-consuming, the garment and knitting factories may be relocated to the vacant plots of the BSCIC industrial parks where infrastructure is available for operation of factories.
If it is implemented, unskilled and unemployed men and women in different parts of the country will get an opportunity to have regular and safe employment near their localities. They could save money as they will not require renting a room near the factory. The saved money could be used to meet their other needs. It will also help mitigate the shortage of workers for garment and knitting factories.
The measures suggested here would facilitate development of relatively healthier, peaceful and safe environment as required for uninterrupted production and thus the full development potential of garment and knitting sectors could be harnessed.
