Owners of the readymade garment manufacturing (RMG) units in Bangladesh have expressed their displeasure at the alleged delay by Accord and Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety in approving the Detailed Engineering Assessment (DEA) reports of the RMG factory buildings, which according to the owners is adversely affecting them.
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The delay has led the RMG factory owners to raise questions about the intention of the officials of the buyers’ platforms. As of August 31, Accord reportedly received DEA reports from 610 factories and out of which it had approved only 70. As of Alliance, it is said to have received reports from 115 factories but have approved only 27 so far.
Accord in particular has come under criticisms from its own member-brands for allegedly making delay in approving DEA reports of the Bangladesh RMG factory buildings submitted by their owners. The signatories of Accord at a recent steering committee meeting of the forum said that the delay in approval of DEAs is a major obstacle in completing remediation process in time.
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The RMG factory owners in Bangladesh have alleged the unusual delay in approving DEA reports has also affected production at the factories. Ruing the buyers’ platforms’ directive of getting the RMG factories assessed only by the firms nominated by them, former Vice-President of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Mohammed Hatem observed, “We are not bound to conduct DEA with the nominated firms of Accord and Alliance, but they are creating situation for us to go for them.” Also expressing doubt over the transparency of the engineers of Accord and Alliance, Hatem maintained that many factory owners had been asked to re-submit DEA without showing any reason.
