MAILBOX

Living with the ghost of Rana Plaza

Last week I read the article titled 'Living with the ghost of Rana Plaza' (published in Star Weekend on April 21, 2017) which revealed the psychological condition of the Rana Plaza victims. I would like to thank the writer for writing on this important but less discussed issue. I really liked the beginning paragraph of the article which touched me and carried me through the rest of the article. I felt very sad for the workers who survived the incident but could not overcome the psychological shock. It is really appalling that, even after four years, these victims still feel the trauma of that tragic incident. They cannot work in an enclosed space as they feel like the walls and ceiling of the building are falling on them. Huge amount of money has already been paid to ensure medical treatment and rehabilitation of the injured workers. However, nobody cared about the psychological damage that has decisively affected the lives of these people. And, due to lack of psychological treatment it is very unlikely that these victims will be able to overcome this trauma in their lifetime.

Elias Azad
Pallabi, Dhaka

A spoonful of chromium, with love

An alarming rise in the number of cancer patients in Bangladesh proves that heavy metal poisoning is quite common. The article titled "A Spoonful of Chromium, With Love" published in Star Weekend on April 28, 2017 reveals how these carcinogenic heavy metals have penetrated so deeply into our food chain that even some of our essential food items carry the life threatening elements. Water, egg, milk: some of the most essential sources of our nutrition have been contaminated by unsafe levels of heavy metals such as lead, arsenic and chromium. The article highlights that Bangladesh's health sector has not conducted any research on lead and chromium poisoning and its impact on public health. More research should be conducted on this issue so that these multiple sources of heavy metal emission can be identified and the current amount of heavy metal existing in our food chain can be neutralised.
Sheikh Shahbaz
Narinda, Dhaka

Setting our priorities straight 

At first let me thank Scott Nova for his nice article. Being an official of a European logistics company operating in Bangladesh, I, myself, have been looking after the company's compliance related issues for a long time. So, Nova's article attracted me a lot. From my experience, I would like to state that Bangladesh has been implementing revolutionary changes in ensuring building and fire safety specifically after Rana Plaza and Tazreen incidents.  Several local and international organisations are providing training on fire and building safety. They are also doing electrical and building safety assessments as per the Accord, Alliance and Bangladesh National Building Code guideline. Recently newspapers have published reports that said that 'The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety', a group of major North American apparel brands, has appreciated Bangladesh's progress in improving fire safety standards in its major garment sector. However, it is necessary to continue these development initiatives to sustainably establish the rights of the workers.  

Sharfuddin
Agrabad, Chittagong