Tannery traders said they are facing many problems, including cash crisis, to relocate their units to Savar from the city’s Hazaribagh area.They said if their industries, the second largest export sector, are closed down by April 6, the country will lose foreign exchange earnings. Engineer M Abu Taher, Chairman of Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leather goods, and Footwear Exporters Association, said the banks are not giving loans to the tannery traders in exchange for land mortgage. He urged the government to take an effective policy in this regard.”The tanneries at Hazaribagh in the capital have not been fully shifted to Savar. If the banks give us loans in exchange for land mortgage, we will shift our units within a month” he said. Tannery owners said they have got plots at Savar, but other works have not yet done.” We are not getting bank loans as well as compensation, which was promised by Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) for shifting our units,” they alleged. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Thursday last ordered the tannery owners to shut down their units in the city’s Hazaribagh by April 6. A three-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, passed the order after hearing a petition filed by the tannery owners, seeking a stay on the High Court order.The court also fixed April 9 for hearing a petition on the fines the tannery owners were asked to pay for not relocating their factories in time.The High Court on Wednesday rejected a petition filed by the tannery owners seeking permission to continue their activities at Hazaribagh in the capital until Eid-ul-Azha.On March 2, the HC directed 154 Hazaribagh tannery owners to pay Tk 30.65 crore fine for not relocating their factories to the Tannery Estate in Savar within the deadline.On March 1, the Industries secretary submitted a list of 154 errant tannery owners who had not pay Tk 10,000 fine per day according to the court’s previous directive.On February 7, the secretary appeared before the court following its directive to explain his failure to collect Tk 10,000 per day from the tannery owners. On that day, the HC directed him to submit the list of the 154 tannery owners.On July 18 last, the Supreme Court ordered each of the 154 tannery owners at Hazaribagh to pay the government Tk 10,000 per day as fine for not relocating their factories to Savar.The court also ordered the government to donate 50 per cent of the fine to the National Liver Foundation of Bangladesh.On January 10 last, the Industries secretary submitted a report before the court mentioning that 150 companies paid Tk 10,000 each in August last while four paid the fine for September while three others for October last.As the secretary failed to perform his duty for collecting the fine, the Supreme Court lawyer advocate Manzill Murshid filed a petition seeking a court order, asking the secretary to explain.In 2001, the High Court passed an order for relocating the tannery industries from Hazaribagh of the capital.The government extended the deadline several times following requests from the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation, the implementing agency of the tannery estate project.
