Bangladesh apparel industry is in the leading position globally in building safe work environment, said Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).Terming Rana Plaza tragedy ‘a wake-up call’ for Bangladesh readymade garment (RMG) industry, BGMEA President Siddiqur Rahman said: “We, the entrepreneurs, have concentrated on ensuring risk-free work environment for our labourers along with building sustainable industry.”Now, we are the role model globally in building safe work environment,” said Siddiqur in an interview with BSS on the eve of the 5th anniversary of the Rana Plaza tragedy that took place on April 24, 2013 leaving 1,138 people dead and nearly 2,000 others injured.After the shocking incident, the government, global brands and BGMEA took different initiative to overcome the disastrous situation.The BGMEA President said initiatives were taken to inspect and carry outremediation work in the factories under international bodies Accord and Alliance and National Action Plan (NAP) of the government.”And till today, Accord has declared 88 percent of their remediation work completed while Alliance 90 percent,” he added.Accord, a platform of EU-based western buyers and trade unions, and Alliance, another platform of North American apparel brands, retailers and companies, have inspected and monitored remediation work of 2200 factories while NAP have done the job in 1500 factories.”Of the 2,200 factories, 39 factories were found vulnerable and the government immediately shut down those,” said Siddiqur.Besides, under the NAP, 900 factories, out of 1,500, have been shut down and remediation work of remaining 600 factories has been going on. Of those, some factories completed 70 percent remediation work while some others 50 percent and the remaining ones 30 percent.”But by the 30th April, they (factories) have to complete the remediation work, otherwise they will be shut down,” added the BGMEA President.Replying to a query whether the BGMEA is satisfied with the progress, he said: “We can now say our RMG sector is 100 percent transparent and safe.”
