Textiles and knitwear producer DBL Group will set up a mini fire brigade in Gazipur to help prevent factory fire in the garment-manufacturing hub. The objective of the mini Fire Brigade, a rapid response and risk reduction unit, is to prevent fire in the industrial buildings around Kashimpur of Gazipur area. The mini Fire Brigade unit will be located outside Jinnat Complex of DBL Group, which will also serve other factories in the Kashimpur-Konabari industrial cluster, DBL Group said in a statement. The brigade is a joint initiative of DBL Group, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Global Initiative on Disaster Risk Management (GIDRM) and Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defense. DBL Group is providing land and construction support for the mini fire brigade and volunteers. Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany Dr. Gerd Müller, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed and Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Huq visited DBL Group’s Jinnat Complex on Wednesday to attend the foundation-laying function of the fire brigade. Dr. Müller laid the foundation stone for Mini Fire Brigade for the Kashimpur-Konabari industrial cluster, while Tofail Ahmed unveiled the plaque. During the plaque unveiling ceremony, Dr. Müller was accompanied by Hans-Joachim Fuchtel, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development and 17 other delegates from Germany. From DBL Group, Abdul Wahed, Chairman, M.A. Jabbar, Managing Director, M.A. Rahim, Vice Chairman and other high officials were present during the ceremony. High officials from the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Director General of Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defense, Chairman and Managing Directors of other companies from RMG sector of Bangladesh and distinguished invited guests were present during the ceremony. Faruque Hassan, Sr. Vice President of the BGMEA was also present during the ceremony. In March, DBL Group and Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zussamenarbeit Bangladesh (GIZ) signed a cooperation agreement to establish a Mini Fire Brigade. M.A. Rahim, Vice-Chairman and Group CEO of DBL Group, Olaf Handloegten, Director, Global Initiative Disaster Risk Management (GIDRM), and Jochen Weikert, Program Coordinator, PSES II, signed the agreement at Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defense Training Complex in Dhaka. The Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defense will undertake the operation and also initiative to organise training for volunteer fire fighters. GIZ will facilitate the procurement of fire-fighting equipments. The facility will operate 24 hours a day with a target to respond within the first critical 10-15 minutes to both industrial fire and building collapse, if any.
