Editorial
Delay in responding to HC ruling
It's criminal neglect
It would not be wrong to suggest that an undue delay, of eight years, in disposing off the High Court ruling on the Spectrum Garments, may have been responsible for the Rana Plaza tragedy and indeed all the other RMG factory disasters since it was delivered on May 24, 2005.
The said ruling, inter-alia, had asked the respondents why they would not be directed to inform whether the garment factories in Dhaka, Chittagong and Narayanganj were constructed observing all the legal formalities. And the fact, as reported in this paper yesterday, that the office of Chief Inspector of Factory and Establishment had issued licenses to four of the five factories in Rana Plaza without verification, puts the matter in perspective.
It is absolutely incomprehensible that none of the parties to the case has taken any step for the hearing of the matter; and none of the respondents except for the BGMEA, has bothered to answer the ruling as yet. And there were six parties and nine respondents in this case including six ministries.
Needless to say, had everyone concerned acted with promptness, the matter, given that it was related directly to the safety of the RMG workers, the HC could have directed the concerned agencies for specific actions to redress the situation.
We are assured by the Attorney General's comments that he will take measures for disposal of the matter, because, it is the nation in general and the RMG workers in particular that are counting the costs of government negligence.
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