Fewer engineering firms, lack of knowledge of factory owners about remediation and late completion of inspections are holding back the progress of the remediation works in the readymade garment factories that were inspected under the government-ILO joint initiative, factory owners and government officials said in a meeting in Dhaka on Sunday. ‘We have decided to double the engineering firms for conducting detailed engineering assessment in an aim to expedite the remediation works,’ state minister for labour Mujibul Haque said at a press briefing in the Dhaka city on Sunday. He spoke at the briefing after a meeting with 115 RMG factory owners based in Dhaka at Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association office in the city. Mujibul said the factory owners had been asked to inform the ministry when they completed the remediation works in their units. ‘In the meeting the factory owners informed that some of them have no knowledge about remediation, some want to relocate and some have been facing problems as the factory buildings are rented,’ Mujibul said. Labour secretary Mikail Shipar said the owners were facing problems for conducting the DEA as only 13 engineering firms were entitled for the works and their charging cost was high. To solve the problem the meeting decided to increase the number of engineering firms to 25 within short time. According to the decision of the meeting, the National Tripartite Committee will sit with the two retailers’ groups — Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh and the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety — so that they accept the inspection report of national initiative. Mikail said, ‘In the meeting no one discussed about financial crisis for remediation but from the government side we assured the factory owners that the government is trying to arrange foreign fund to help small and medium factories.’ Syed Ahmed, inspector general of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, said they asked the factory owners to submit corrective action plan within short time. ‘In the meeting we said that every factory will have to fix safety issue and there is no scope to compromise with the safety issue,’ he said. Syed said 238 factories graded as Amber (risky) during the safety inspection under the government-ILO joint initiative and corrective measures were suggested by the inspection teams. Out of 238 factories, 115 are in the Dhaka district. The ministry will hold such meetings with the factory owners in Narayanganj, Gazipur and Chittagong in phases. The government in association with the ILO has so far inspected 1,549 factories and in which 25 units were graded as Red (seriously risky). After the Rana Plaza building collapse that killed more than 1,100 people, mostly garment workers, in April 2013, EU retailers formed the Accord while North American retailers formed the Alliance. Both the initiatives launched inspection programmes in the Bangladeshi RMG factories from where their members procure products while the government in association with the ILO announced a separate inspection programme for rest of the garment factories which were not on the lists of the Alliance and the Accord.
