ILO hands Tk 12.7cr in Rana Plaza compensation
The International Labour Organisation has so far disbursed Tk 12.7 crore in compensation to 1,496 victims of the Rana Plaza disaster.
The money was disbursed in two batches from the ILO-managed Rana Plaza Trust Fund in September, said Srinivasa Reddy, country director of the ILO in Bangladesh. The committee of the fund has identified 2,848 victims for compensations.
“ILO will disburse compensation to 858 victims in the third batch next week,” Reddy told The Daily Star.
“The fourth and last batch will be paid next month. I hope sufficient funds will be received from the donors to pay the victims.” ILO aims to complete all the compensation process by the end of December.
British retailer Primark has compensated 581 workers of its garment sourcing firm New Wave Bottoms Ltd, the factory of which was housed on the fourth floor of Rana Plaza. So far the international retailers and donors paid $19.4 million to the trust fund, Reddy said, adding that French retailer Auchan has recently paid $1.5 million to the fund.
“Our next target is to support the families of the victims.” The ILO has already taken such a project funded by the European Union.
Around 1,500 families of the victims will be supported for their rehabilitation under the project which will start functioning soon, he said. “We will bring the members of the victims' families to Dhaka and will advise them on how to make best use of the compensation.”
ILO will bear the expenses of the families during their two-day stay in Dhaka. Fifty families will arrive in the first batch.
Some victims have already received cash from the prime minister's fund. ILO will deduct the money from the compensation fund and hand the remaining amount, Reddy said.
ILO, acting as a neutral body, is disbursing the funds to the victims under ILO's convention 121. A total of $40 million is needed to compensate the 3,600 workers who worked at Rana Plaza, Reddy said.
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