Brac USA donates to Tazreen fund
Brac USA, the North American affiliate of Brac, donated $250,000 to the Tazreen Claims Administration (TCA) Trust for the victims of the industrial fire that killed 112 workers three years ago.
A day after the third anniversary of the Tazreen tragedy, the Spanish department store, El Corte Ingles, has also committed $100,000 to the fund, the IndustriALL Global Union said in a statement on Wednesday.
One year ago, IndustriALL together with the Clean Clothes Campaign, C&A and the C&A Foundation signed an agreement, brokered by the International Labour Organisation, to set up the TCA to make payments to victims for medical treatment, loss of income and loss of life.
There are now five donors to the fund, of which the C&A Foundation and the Fung Foundation have paid $1 million each. Germany's discount retailer KiK has paid $150,000.
The compensations received by individual Tazreen fire victims so far ranged between Tk 50,000 and Tk 150,000, and IndustriALL and Clean Clothes Campaign have been fighting hard to get higher compensations for them.
“Thanks to the regular support of the ILO, the government of Bangladesh, and the signatory organisations, we are happy to get the TCA Trust up and running,” said Mojtaba Kazazi, executive director of the TCA.
“After all the hardship and trauma the victims and their families have been through, they will finally be able to receive the payments they are due,” Kazazi said. The payment scheme will build on the payments already made by the Prime Minister's Office and Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association to the families of deceased and missing workers, the TCA said in a statement.
Previous payments will be subtracted from the total final payments to be made under the scheme, which complements additional programmes, such as an education trust for children of the victims, funded by C&A Foundation and Fung Foundation.
Any future donor will be listed on the TCA Trust website.
The TCA Trust's claims process has been designed in a way that is consistent, transparent and fair, and is easily accessible by victims and their families, the statement said.
The TCA Trust started receiving payment claims as of October 5.
As soon as the review of claims is complete, each claimant will be notified of the result, following which payments will be made in full into the bank accounts opened with Dutch Bangla Bank.
It is expected that the first payments to families of the deceased and missing workers will be made in January 2016.
TCA Trust has also started contacting injured workers to advise them on filing claims.
Injured workers will undergo medical assessments by a team of multidisciplinary experts at the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed in Savar. The TCA Trust anticipates final disbursement by April 2016.
Comments