Much of this
week’s business news has focused on the fire at Tazreen Fashions in Ashuluia
that claimed the lives of at least 111 people. The incident has drawn attention to poor
worker safety in the garment sector.
Important
lessons to learn from Tazreen fire: Mozena (The Daily Star, November 28,
2012)
US
ambassador to Bangladesh Dan Mozena said there are lot to learn from the
Ashulia tragedy. In a meeting, arranged by Bangladesh Enterprise Forum, he said
Bangladesh has once again drawn international attention to safety lapses at
industrial units. The BEF president, stressed the need "to organise a
discussion with the representatives from buyers, garment manufacturers, apparel
workers, ILO [International Labour Organisation] and government soon for
reviving buyers' confidence by ensuring workplace safety.”
Walmart
blames its supplier (The Daily Star, November 28, 2012)
US global
retailer Walmart said Tazreen Fashions
had been making clothes for the retailer without its knowledge. Walmart in a statement
said that Tazreen was no longer authorised to produce merchandise for Walmart.
But without authorisation a supplier subcontracted work with it which is an act
of violation of policy. "Walmart categorises a factory's compliance as
“Green”, “Yellow”, “Orange” and “Red”. A compliance audit of Walmart shows some
of the units of Tuba Group, like Tazreen Fashions, had been rated as “yellow”
for four consecutive years".
A lot
left to be desired (The Daily Star, November 28, 2012)
After the
Ashulia incident, garment workers complained of lack of safety measures in
factories where they work. They said even factories considered to be compliant
with safety regulations do not have emergency exits. The president of the Institute of Architects wondered
how the regulator RAJUK could have permitted the construction of the Tazreen
facility without fire exits. Though some factories are equipped with modern
fire extinguishers, but most cases these do not work or the factories do not
have trained staff to operate the extinguishers. Some also complained that they
are forced to work for 24 hours but they could not tell this to buyers or their
representatives.
SME
Foundation identifies 177 clusters to make the sector vibrant (The
Financial Express, November 28, 2012)
In a view to
assess the problems and prospects of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in
Bangladesh, SME Foundation undertook a cluster mapping project. The project identifies clusters of SMES with
geographic and product similarities. The
study revealed 177, 38% of which were in Dhaka.
The lowest concentration of SME clusters were found in Sylhet (4%) and
Barisal (6%).
Ashulia
fire to affect RMG sector, export (The New Age, November 27, 2012)
The
economists and exporters warned that the recent fire in Ashulia garment will have
a negative effect in country's garment export. Distinguished fellow Dr. Bhattacharya
of the Centre for Policy Dialogue said that the image of country's garment
factory have changed with this incident in the global market. Garment owner need
to avoid projecting an image of negligence. Bangladesh has been under pressure
from the buyers concerned over worker safety.
Akram
new FBCCI President (The New Age, November 27, 2012)
In FBCCI
election, Kazi Akramuddin Ahmed, Standard Bank Ltd’s chairman, Awami League
advisory council member, and the candidate promoted by the government, was
elected as president FBCCI directors. Akramuddin’s panel won 11 of 15 posts
while Annisul Huq, who led an alternative group Ganatantrik Parishad, won the
remaining 4. According to the FBCCI
rules, 30 directors are elected through direct voting – 15 from the chamber
group and as many from the association group — while 18 directors are nominated
by the nine leading chambers and an equal number of associations.
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