Govt Handout
Envious quarter with nexus home, abroad out to destroy RMG
Unb, Dhaka
The government yesterday called upon the owners, workers and the people to come forward to help save the garment industry from an orchestrated "plot" to destroy the country's main foreign exchange earning sector. "An envious quarter having nexus at home and abroad is making an ill-effort to destroy this industry," the government said in a handout, issued in the wake of violence at the garment factories that led to closure of all units in Dhaka Export Processing Zone. The government observed that there had been apprehension that Bangladesh's garment industry would go haywire with the abolition of quota system. But such prognosis proved wrong rather garment exports have increased. "Getting envious of this success, a quarter at home and abroad is making a synchronised ill attempt to ruin this industry," the official release said. The handout says the government has already constituted an inquiry committee headed by Local Government Division Secretary SM Zahirul Islam for probing the incidents. "Unrest has been prevailing in garment factories for last few days when some select factories were set ablaze and damaged through ransacking," the handout noted. It said movement or bargaining between industrial owners and workers is a usual practice. "But in the name of labour movement, destruction of mills and factories is not acceptable under any circumstances." The release mentioned that the government has concluded an agreement by holding meeting with the owners and workers' leaders and taken steps for its implementation. Meantime, a committee has been working to fix minimum wages for the workers and discussion continued on other demands. "The government had expected that government, owners and workers would work jointly to maintain the export-oriented garment industry competitive globally." But the government deplores that the unrest started afresh in Dhaka EPZ and, consequently, the foreign owners declared their factories closed. The release said the government is respectful to the just demands of the workers and is also aware of the security of the owners and their factories. The garment industry fetches 76 per cent of country's total export earnings and provides job for lakhs of workers. If this industry was closed down, the national economy would incur a colossal loss and lakhs of workers will be left jobless, the handout noted.
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