BGMEA and BKMEA, the two associations of the country’s apparel exporters, have failed to comply with the government directive to stop issuing Utilisation Declaration to 219 non-compliant readymade garment factories in three weeks.The Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments on September 20 issued separate letters to the presidents of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association and asked them to stop providing UD to the factories as the remediation progress in the units was not satisfactory.Out of the 219 units, 134 are registered with BGMEA, 74 with BKMEA and 11 units are members of both the trade-bodies.The DIFE in its letter said that these factories were assessed under national initiative and the department held several meetings with the factory owners and sent letters asking them to expedite remediation work in the units.Despite repeated attempts by the DIFE as per the escalation protocol, the remediation progress was not satisfactory in the units, the letter read.‘We are working on the letter of DIFE and it is not possible to close down the factories just after getting the letter as the livelihood of so many workers depends on the factories,’ BGMEA president Md Siddiqur Rahman told New Age on Saturday.He said that the BGMEA would scrutinise the remediation progress in the factories and then the trade body would decide whether the UD would be issued or not to the factories.‘We have already held a meeting with the authorities of 82 factories located in Dhaka, Gazipur and Narayanganj zones to know about the problems in fixing safety faults and another meeting will be held with the authorities of 60 factories located in Chattogram shortly,’ Siddiq said.He also said that the BGMEA would not allow its members to run any risky factory.‘So far as I know the factories listed by the DIFE are not risky. Many of them have started remediation work though the progress is slow. We will examine the status of the factories and then the necessary stapes will be taken,’ the BGMEA chief said. Md Shamsuzzaman Bhuiyan, inspector general of DIFE, said he was not aware weather BGMEA and BKMEA stopped issuing UD to the factories as per the letter issued by the inspection department of the government. ‘We have developed an escalation protocol and BGMEA and BKMEA have agreed to bring errant factories under remediation. As per the bilateral agreement, the trade bodies should respond to the request of the DIFE,’ he said.Following the Rana Plaza building collapse in April, 2013 that killed more than 1,100 people, a total of 3,780 garment factories were assessed under the three initiatives — European retailers’ platform Accord, North American buyers’ platform Alliance and the government-led and ILO-supported national initiative.Out of the 3,780 garment factories, 1,549 were inspected under the national initiative. Of them, 531 were closed, 69 relocated and 193 transferred to Accord and Alliance lists.The factories that fell under the national initiative completed 32 per cent of remediation works, while 11 factories fixed 100 per cent safety faults, DIFE officials said.
