Editorial
JS body on Tazreen Fashions fire probe
Wrangling won't help; action needed
The parliamentary standing committee on labour has dismissed BGMEA's probe into Tazreen Fashions fire, the worst of its kind in Bangladesh's history, as biased since it amounts to shielding the factory owner from blame.
Surprisingly, the investigation into the fire carried out by the government echoed the view of the BGMEA that it was a premeditated act.
We note with concern that after six weeks of the tragedy, the probes have not led us anywhere. We are still wrangling over semantics and looking for some excuses to shift the blame for the tragedy.
In either case, the investigating authority points to an invisible quarter for the tragedy without taking the trouble of identifying the agent involved in the purported sabotage.
The fire and the probes give rise to more questions than answer.
All concerned in the factory admitted that the fire alarm did ring. Why was then workers not allowed to leave the building immediately? Why were the floor managers preventing the workers from fleeing building in the face of danger? These questions beg answers.
Second, why was the ground floor where all the staircases of the building met was made impassable by turning it into a warehouse? These are genuine concerns waiting to be addressed.
The cumulative failures, instances of neglect and callousness need to be probed as well.
Worst of all, as the company did not maintain any database of its workers, quite a number of families of the victims, who got burnt beyond recognition, could not be compensated.
This is a stunning instance of callousness on the management's part which leads a group of industries and whose business connections span the globe!
All we are interested in is to see the truth come out and sufficient measures taken to address security anomalies, besetting many garment industries.
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