Tanners are now engaged in tough bargaining with the Ministry of Industry (MoI) over relocation of their tannery units from downtown Dhaka after the latest official deadline in this regard expired, officials and industry insiders said. According to them, the hide-tanning firms held a series of meetings in recent days with high-ups of the ministry where they demanded immediate release of the second instalment of the government’s special fund of Tk 2.50 billion as compensation for shifting their heavy infrastructure. On the other hand, the ministry officials, in the face of ongoing bargaining, assured the tannery owners of quick release of the money with a verbal instruction for shifting the environmentally-hazardous business activities from the city’s Hazaribagh to under-construction Savar Tannery Estate by March, they said.Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu on January 10 last issued a 72-hour ultimatum after extension of several deadlines for the tanners for relocating their units from the capital to Savar to avert tough official actions. But the warning went in vein as no tannery unit was relocated there with full setup within the timeframe. The Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) under the MoI, which is developing the special zone for the hide-tanning companies, sent legal notice to a number of tanners for their failure to comply with the ministry’s order. Talking to the FE, Vice President of the Leather Goods and Footwear Exporters Association (BFLLGFEA) Abdul Awal said they sat several times with the industry minister and requested him to extend the deadline as many of them face difficulties in shifting their infrastructures due to fund shortage. “We’ve requested the minister for quick release of second instalment of the government compensation and the minister assured us of taking necessary measures regarding the issue,” he said.According to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed among the government, the Bangladesh Tanners Association and the Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leather Goods and Footwear Exporters Association (BFLLGFEA) in 2003, the government will provide Tk 2.50 billion to the tanners as compensation to help them shift their units. The fund was supposed to be disbursed in three instalments under 20:40:40 ratio and the first instalment of the financial assistance was given to the tanners, who now seek the second one.About legal notice, Mr. Awal, also Chairman of Bhulua Tannery Ltd, said the errant tanners timely responded to the notice, stating that huge financial crisis, coupled with delayed construction activities of the CETP (Central Effluent Treatment Plant), led to the unexpected delay. According to him, they have promised the authority concerned of starting wet blue process, which results in major pollution, from the Savar Tannery Estate from March if the money is released by the ministry by the month.The business insiders said wet blue is the process of converting raw hides and skins to tanned leather using chromium salts and it makes the hide free of hair. It also causes more than 80 per cent of the overall pollution.Owner of Helal Tannery (Pvt.) Ltd Alamgir Hossain, who got a 22,000-square feet plot on Savar site, said they would start building the rooftop on the first floor of the 6-storey industrial unit.I got Tk 13 million from the government as compensation for relocation purposes, but I already spent more than 20 million for finishing the foundation of the structure…it would take more than a year for us to go into operation in Savar,” he said.
