Govt to recruit 60 engineers to beef up monitoring

The labour ministry is set to recruit 60 engineers by June 15 to strengthen the Remediation Coordination Cell (RCC) in preparation of the Accord and Alliance's departure from Bangladesh this year.

“We will have to strengthen the RCC's capacity as soon as possible,” says Mujibul Haque Chunnu, state minister for labour and employment.

The RCC is supposed to pick up the baton from the Accord and the Alliance, the two foreign inspection agencies formed in the wake of the Rana Plaza collapse to enhance factory safety in Bangladesh's garment sector.

The cell was formed in consultation with the International Labour Organisation, Accord, Alliance, the government and Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

The Alliance, the platform of 28 North American retailers, will reach the end of its tenure in Bangladesh in June, and the Accord, the platform of 220 mainly Europe-based retailers, on May 31.

The ministries of labour and commerce had already extended the tenure of Accord earlier this month by six more months, but the High Court on May 16 restrained the government from doing so until August.

“Extension of the tenure was to ensure that the platform can leave the county smoothly,” said Mahmud Hasan Khan, vice-president of the BGMEA.

Accord has already completed nearly 90 percent of the remediation works to enhance structural, fire and electrical safety of its 1,620 member factories.  “Now, we are in discussion with the government and the other important stakeholders to determine what we will do next,” he added. Some influential members, like H&M, Inditex and Primark, are already in discussion with the government on the next course of action with regards to Accord, said a union leader who is familiar with the talks surrounding the platform's extension.

“The issue should be resolved immediately as the major retailers of the world are the members of this platform,” said the union leader requesting anonymity.

Currently, Bangladesh has about 6.5 percent market share in the global apparel trade and it could easily be taken to at least 11 percent with cooperation of the globally-renowned clothing brands, he added.

“Bangladesh's garment factories benefit materially, because buyers recognise that a factory that has completed its safety work presents far fewer risks for them,” Accord earlier said in a statement.