Commerce minister Tofail Ahmed on Friday claimed that ‘conspiracy of invisible forces’ was active in the apparel sector to hinder the progress of the sector. ‘We have to keep in mind that we have many competitors and some countries are jealous of us because of the growth of readymade garment sector in Bangladesh,’ he said at Meet the Reporters programme organised by Dhaka Reporters Unity.The commerce minister said that the sudden labour unrest at Ashulia industrial belt was unfortunate as workers took to the street without holding any discussion with the factory managements. Many demands including wage hike from the workers were met earlier, but this time Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association would not cave in to the workers demand, Tofail said. ‘The government also agreed with the decision of the BGMEA,’ he said. There are more than 90 trade unions in the Ashulia industrial area and the leaders of the trade unions collect money from the workers regularly, Tofail said. He said that they came to know that there was huge amount of money in the Bank account of a trade union leader. Tofail urged the Bangladesh Nationalist Party to participate in the next national election saying that Narayanganj city polls was an instance and the next national elections would be free and fair. The next general election will be held under the government of prime minister Sheikh Hasina and the new Election Commission will conduct the polls, he said. Dhaka Reporters Unity president Sakhawat Hossain Badsha and general secretary Mursalin Nomani also spoke at the programme.
