Four readymade garment factories which were declared unsafe by a government-set review panel are still in operation, ignoring the closer notices issued to the units by the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments. The factories are Lyric Apparels Ltd and Adorn Knitwear Ltd in Dhaka and Sundry Apparels Ltd and Nazia Apparels Ltd in Chittagong. Labour ministry officials said the government was considering taking legal action against the factories as they were running their operations violating the government order. Recently, the DIFE has sent a letter to the labour ministry seeking necessary action against the four garment factories in Dhaka and Chittagong. During the initial inspection, structural engineers detected severe faults in the factory buildings and referred their findings to the government-set review committee for the next course of action. Labour secretary Mikail Shipar said that cases would be filed with court against the factories which would not comply with the review committee decisions. Following an inspection in the factories the experts of the review panel comprising representatives from the government, EU Accord, North American Alliance, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association found serious safety risk and asked the factory authorities to close down the factories. ‘We have asked the factory authorities to shut down the units as the condition of the factory buildings are vulnerable but the factory owners have been running their business ignoring the government order,’ Syed Ahmed, inspector general of the DIFE, told New Age on Monday. He said that the DIFE requested law enforcement agencies of the respective factory area to take necessary action so that the factories comply with the government order but the agencies were yet to take any initiative. Following Rana Plaza building collapse on April 24, 2013 that killed more than 1,100 people, mostly garment workers, Western retailers and apparel brands, in response to public outrage, began a major push to improve safety in the Bangladeshi factories linked with their business. The EU brands and retailers including H&M, Carrefour and Mango, as well as 14 American companies formed Accord and the initiatives completed safety inspections in more than 2,100 garment factories from where they procured products. Under National Action Plan, the government with the collaboration of ILO inspected about 1,500 factories. During the inspection, a total of 148 factories were sent to the government-set review panel for the decision as the inspection teams found critical safety findings in the units. Out of 148 factories, the review committee shut 37 factories while partially closed 42 units.
