Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the under-construction dormitory buildings on October 12, 2013. Venting anger over the foot-dragging on the project, the labour rights activists demanded the dormitory buildings be opened for the workers without further delay. The leaders of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) also expressed their optimism that the dormitory was going to be opened for the workers within a couple of months. According to the BGMEA, at least 4 lakh female apparel workers are now employed in more than 400 readymade garment factories of the commercial capital. Chittagong Development Authority responded to appeal of the BGMEA to mitigate the acute accommodation crisis for thousands of women apparel workers in the city. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between BGMEA and CDA was inked for constructing five six-storey dormitory buildings on June 26, 2011. The CDA developed the dormitory buildings on a 35-katha plot at a cost of around Tk30 crore at Saltgola Crossing near Chittagong EPZ. The BGMEA leaders and CDA officials said the newly constructed dormitory buildings with 244 rooms would provide accommodation to some 4,000 female apparel workers. The dormitory buildings will also house waiting room, medical centre, prayer hall, shopping corner, cafeteria and common room. Each of the rooms will provide accommodation to four to eight women with a common dining and bathrooms on every floor. Abdus Salam, chairman of Chittagong Development Authority told the Dhaka Tribune that they had completed all procedures to hand over the dormitory buildings to the BGMEA. “Nothing is left. We have completed all necessary procedures for fixing a date for handing over the dormitory buildings to the BGMEA,” said the CDA chairman. Moinuddin Ahmed Mintu, first vice-president of the BGMEA said the initiative of constructing dormitory was a landmark for the country’s apparel sector. “We are hopeful of opening the dormitory for the women workers within November of this year. The five dormitory buildings have already been allocated among 10 apparel factories,” said the leader of the apparel sector’s apex trade body. “The workers will be able to stay in the dormitory at an affordable cost. We are also considering taking up some other welfare projects like it for the workers,” assured the BGMEA leader. The readymade garment manufacturers also said the dormitories near the workplace would help the female workers of the CEPZ to save transportation cost alongside offering hygienic accommodation. Terming the initiative a noble one, Tapan Dutta, president of Bangladesh Trade Union Centre (TUC), Chittagong said the construction of dormitory for female RMG workers was a long-felt demand. “Every time there is a hike in wage in apparel sector, it is accompanied by a concomitant rise in the house rent. It is the spiraling housing cost for which compels the apparel workers to live in an unhygienic condition in the dilapidated slums far away from their workplaces,” said the labour rights leader, adding that the housing facilities would definitely enhance the efficiency of the apparel workers. It may be mentioned that the apparel industry began its journey in the port city back in 1978 through Desh Garments Ltd owned by late Nurul Kader Khan.
