In the light of the reported slow progress (less than 40 per cent) of remediation work in 525 readymade garment factories, which are on the suppliers’ list of Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, the platform of European brands and retailers (Accord) has recently approached the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association (BGMEA), seeking its intervention to expedite the remediation process in those units, besides handing over the list of errant factories.
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“We have received a list of factories, in which the remediation progress is below 40 per cent. The BGMEA would scrutinise the progress report and sit with the factory owners immediately to know the reasons behind such little progress,” stated BGMEA Vice-President Mahmud Hassan Khan Babu, while interacting with a daily newspaper after the meeting between the Accord and the BGMEA at the latter’s office in Dhaka.
Babu further maintained that BGMEA would stipulate a time frame to the factories to make required progress in the remediation process, and if any unit shows reluctance to comply, Accord would take action as per its terms and conditions.
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In the meeting, the Executive Director of Accord Rob Wayss reportedly proposed to the BGMEA to become a member of Accord’s advisory committee, besides reportedly seeking the apex garment exporters’ body’s cooperation in setting up its offices in Chittagong and Gazipur to bolster monitoring of remediation work, the permission for establishing of which have reportedly been denied by the Board of Investment (BOI).
According to Babu, the BGMEA has reportedly agreed in principle to the proposal of setting up of an office at Chittagong, considering the distance from Dhaka, but not the proposal for Gazipur.
