The tanners at Hazaribagh in the capital are yet to start relocating their units to Savar even after the government has turned down their plea for more time. However, they want to remain in Hazaribagh area till next Eid-ul-Azha, considering the volume of rawhide trade during the religious festival. Tanners told the FE on Saturday that if they shift their business establishments to Savar from Hazaribgah before Eid-ul-Azha, they will incur huge financial losses. The government on April 13, 2016 turned down the plea made by the tanners for giving them more time for relocating their units to Savar from Hazaribagh. The Ministry of Industries (MoI) on the day also asked the tanners’ association leaders to immediately shift their establishments to the newly-built Savar Leather Industrial Estate. “All the decisions taken earlier by the government on relocation of tanneries from Hazaribagh to Savar will be implemented,” senior secretary of the MoI Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told the media after meeting with tannery leaders on April 13 last. “We want the tanners to relocate their units without any delay. We would not tolerate laxity in this connection,” he said while talking with the leaders of Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA) and Bangladesh Finished Leather Goods and Footwear Exporters Association (BFLGFEA). The government at an inter-ministerial meeting on March 20, 2016 warned of taking stern action against the tanners if they try to take rawhide to Hazaribagh from April, 2016 aiming to compel them to relocate their units. Later, the deadline was extended till April 10 which also expired on Sunday last. The tanners asserted that rawhide is not entering Hazaribagh tanneries rather Posta in the city. The process of relocating the tanneries from Hazaribagh to Savar has been continuing for years. Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu announced in February last that the tanneries would have to be relocated by March 31, 2016 and there will be no compromise with the deadline this time. The government had given Tk 2.5 billion (Tk 250 crore) as compensation to the tanners and 155 plots were allocated to them at Harindhara in Savar. Industrial waste is a major reason for pollution of the Buriganga, Shitalakkha, Balu and Turag. Of 60 per cent of industrial waste that is released into the four rivers, 30 per cent come from the tanneries located in Hazaribagh. There are some 195 tanneries at Hazaribagh responsible for dumping thousands of litres of untreated and highly toxic liquid waste into the Buriganga River every day, posing a serious risk to human and animal health. The buyers of the European Union (EU) are also putting pressure on relocation of tanneries to Savar. The government is also considering ‘relocation of tanneries an urgent matter’ in order to meet the buyers’ demand. The tanners claimed that building infrastructures at Savar is yet to be completed. Most of the CETP (central effluent treatment plant) work has been done. Besides, power, gas and water supplies have almost been completed, an official of MoI said. Chairman of BTA Md Shaheen Ahamed told the FE on Saturday that they would relocate their units to Savar after Eid-ul-Azha, considering the volume of rawhide trade during the festival. “We would sit with the MoI early next month and seek again time to stay at Hazaribagh until Eid-ul-Azha,” he said. There is a huge demand for Bangladeshi leather in the global market due to its quality. Rawhide price is lower in Bangladesh compared with other neighbouring countries, according to tanners. Over 6.5 million cattle were sacrificed during the last Eid-ul-Azha, according to the Department of Livestock. Tanners buy rawhide during the Eid. Around 250 million square feet (sq ft) of rawhide is collected in the country every year, half of which is stocked up during Eid-ul-Azha. Rawhide worth about Tk 40 billion is traded on the Eid day alone, industry insiders said. Bangladesh exported leather and leather goods and footwear worth US$ 1130.51 million during the fiscal year (FY) 2014-15. From July 2015 to January 2016, the volume of export was valued at $ 663.02 million against the target of $ 707.47 million, according to BTA. Dr. Bjorn Lomborg is president of the Copenhagen Consensus Center, ranking the smartest solutions to the world’s biggest problems by cost-benefit. He was named one of the world’s 100 most influential people by Time Magazine.
