Editorial
Tazreen disaster anniversary
So many wrongs need to be righted
ONE year has passed since Tazreen disaster that killed 112 workers. Tazreen was an eye-opener to the callous disregard that the owners of RMG factories accorded to the lives of the workers. Tazreen was the primary reason that our GSP was cancelled and it is fairly representative of the shoddy environment of work in most of our RMG factories.
Neither the owners nor the BGMEA took the caution seriously, nor did they pay heed to the call from all quarters to rev up safety standards and working conditions of the nearly 5,000 RMG factories. And we had the worst RMG factory disaster only six months after Tazreen.
We are astonished by the inadequate compensation made to the victims' families. The BGMEA and the owner really paid a pittance. We are even more shocked by the refusal of the two largest buyers of our RMG to contribute to the compensation package on flimsy grounds.
We note too with great deal of concern that the owner of the factory is going about scot-free when he should have been booked for murder. It is regrettable too that the probe committee termed the actions of the owners, who had flouted all the rules while constructing the building and all the safety measures that such a factory should have, as 'unpardonable neglect" and recommended that they be booked under a section of the CrPC that carries a jail sentence of 5 years only. It was pure and simple murder and the owners should be accordingly dealt with.
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