It came as no less than a shock when we came to know how little has so far been achieved in the remediation of the faulty garment factories in the country. The time already spent in the process spans more than two years. The remediation works under the supervision of Alliance and Accord, representing the North American and European Union (EU) retailers respectively, appear to be far below the target of accomplishment. No doubt, factory remediation is challenging as the jobs involved are not confined to a definite set of corrective measures. The faults detected spread across a myriad variety of parameters, requiring large-scale corrections in factories of various scales – from the small and medium to the big ones. Implementing corrective measures would depend on how best the whole process of work is integrated in order to render the factories safe and compliant. Given, however, the complex nature of the works, it was expected that once the areas which required improvement were identified through methodical inspections, the remediation process would gather momentum and everything would be streamlined. Since the beginning of the work on faulty factories, there was much confusion, a good deal of which grew from ill-informed discussions in the print and electronic media. There were speculations over alleged rifts between the garment associations and the remediation planners — Alliance and Accord – on the mechanism of remediation. The government, at times, looked impatient. Statements from senior ministers on the issue added to the confusion and controversy. Lately, it seems all parties, including the government, have come to terms with not only the needs but the modus operandi of remediation. Earlier in March this year, Alliance had set a target to complete all remediation and final inspections of about 600 of its supplier factories by July 2017. As things stand now, the progress is not at all as expected. This has been revealed the other day when Alliance, the platform of North American brands and retailers, told the media that the process of remediation has, so far, found six garment factories hundred per cent compliant by international standards. That the number is only six should cause many an eyebrow raised. According to observers, terming the process slow is not enough, especially when the number of errant factories under the purview of Alliance is as high as more than six hundred. At a press briefing in Dhaka, Alliance said it had completed final inspection of eight factories and found six of them up to the mark. It has been reported by Alliance that after completion of initial inspection, it found only 32 per cent of the required remediation done. Alliance Executive Director James Moriarty, a former US Ambassador to Bangladesh, attributed the slow progress to a number of impeding factors, such as the time-lag in importing fire exit doors and other safety equipment and their installation. Mr Moriarty, however, hoped that all the factories would be made fully compliant within the five-year programme of remediation ending in 2018. He also said that Alliance’s high officials were in Dhaka to discuss with the concerned government agencies, makers and other related ones as to how the activities of the western retailers would be continued after 2018, especially on how to address the issues including continuation of inspection, remediation and its standards. Uncertainty regarding completion of the corrective measures remains a big question. Funding, understandably, is a major problem. A piece of good news that may help expedite the process is that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is now set to provide $18 million for factory upgrade in the garment industry. The USAID and the Alliance are to sign an agreement by the end of this month on the funding programme, allowing local banks to provide low-cost loans for garment factories to improve their structural, electrical and fire safety infrastructure. It has been reported that USAID will provide the fund so that small and medium companies can improve their workers’ safety and factory environment. The fund will be used in the same manner as loans from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which is providing $50 million through five banks for upgrading the garment factories under the Alliance work programme. Facilitating the availability of the loan should be looked into as there are quarters which seem sceptical in this regard. In view of the overall remediation process now in place, it is crucially important for the factory owners to be more forthcoming to meet compliance needs. True, lack of serious concern on the part of many factory owners at the initial stage was responsible to slow down the process. Gearing up the process to complete the work early is the prime need of the hour for all stakeholders.
