News Report Despite the government’s ultimatum, the tannery owners are yet to relocate their factories from the city’s Hazaribagh area to Savar. The tannery owner’s hope that all 205 tanneries will be shifted before the Eid-ul-Azha this year. They also hope that the government will release the compensation fund to expedite the relocation. Meanwhile, the operation of the central affluent treatplant (CETP) has been started and 155 industrials plots have been developed on 200-acre leather estate in Savar. The industries ministry has already allocated the plots to 155 tannery owners. Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu on January 10 asked the tannery owners to shift their industrial units from the Dhaka city’s Hazaribagh to the planned leather industrial estate at Savar within 72 hours. The owners who will fail to do so within the deadline, their tanneries will be shut down, warned the minister. Amir Hossain Amu also ordered the officials to cancel the plots of the tannery owners who would not move from Hazaribagh to Savar Leather Industrial Estate within the stipulated time. Minister directed the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) to issue legal notices against the tannery owners. The government has set up the industrial estate to preserve the capital Dhaka’s environment safe. The government had given the tanners until Dec 31 last year to shift their factories, but the tannery owners are apparently delaying to shift their industries. Despite the minister’s ultimatum, the owners are yet relocate their factories to Savar claiming that they need a few more months for moving to Savar Tannery Estate. Most of the 155 industrial units are yet to be completed as construction works are going on some tannery owners said. If the tanneries are not relocated, pollution in the Buriganga River as well as Dhaka city will be on the rise, causing various environmental hazards, say the Green activists. Meanwhile, the government has served legal notices to the owners of 28 tanneries who are yet to start work to relocate their factories from Hazaribagh in the capital to Savar. The government initially took the three-year project in 2003 to set up the industrial park spending Tk 175.75 crore to relocate some 205 tanneries from Hazaribagh considering the health and environment hazards in the capital.
