About 54 per cent of the initially identified flaws in garment factories listed with the Alliance have so far been remediated in line with the corrective action plan (CAP), a top official of the platform said. The Alliance also reaffirmed its commitment to source from the country and continues its activities despite the Gulshan terror attack that killed 20 people, mostly foreigners. “Still, I haven’t heard that any Alliance member has canceled order from Bangladesh,” Alliance country director James F Moriarty told reporters at his office in the city. “In Bangladesh, 14 out of 29 members have offices here with personnel either from Bangladesh or other South Asian countries,” he said adding they are continuing their work. If brands need to talk to owners or management, the conversation is done by phone or computer or factory owners and management are going outside, he noted. Regarding remediation, he said, “We want to make sure that all the factories Alliance signatory members source, are safe. Remediation is a very important part of that and we think we are making very good progress.” A total of 32 factories have fully remediated out of 673 Alliance-listed factories, he said. Till date, Alliance has suspended a total of 91 factories that are not making enough progress, he said, adding there was a big surge in suspension in recent months. Majority of the 91 mills were located in buildings that accommodate other factories or establishments, he said, adding they were not safe and they didn’t have sufficient exits and space. Tapan Chowdhury a board director of the Alliance, said buyers realise that they need to source from safe factories, while owners realise they can’t go back to old days beyond ensuring workplace safety. Regarding relocation of factories, workers don’t want to move from their present location as they have job available. Terming remediation financing a big question, Mr Moriarty said fund is available and they are working to make it cheaper. Responding to a question, he said Alliance doesn’t have any plan to stay beyond 2018. “If there are specific things we need to do beyond 2018, we can find a way to carry out.” “Workers have to have voice, be educated what to do in an emergency that also alert the factory management,” he said, stressing combined approach to procedures and systems involving all stakeholders so that factories remain safe. More than 1.2 million workers in over 700 factories now have access to Alliance’s confidential 24-hour worker helpline, which allows them to safely and anonymously report concerns-safety or otherwise-within their factories. “We received about 5,000 calls per month from both Alliance and non-Alliance factory workers,” he added.
