6 Yrs of Tazreen Fire: Survivors pin hope on own factory

Six years after the Tazreen Fashions factory fire, 10 workers injured in the incident have taken their destiny in their own hands and set up their factory in Ashulia.

After failing to get jobs in other factories, the injured started the “Tazreen Ahoto Sramik Amra Gure Darate Chai” in Buripara area on October 1.

It was the brainchild of Shobita Rani, a survivor of the fire. “When factory authorities started denying us appointments and as we were unable to work full time, I decided to set up a mini-factory,” she said to this correspondent.

Later, Shobita shared her idea with some of the other victims of the fire and nine of them agreed to go ahead with the plan. 

“Finally, ten of us began the business.

We rented a small room as our factory at a monthly rent of Tk 4,000 and gave Tk 10,000 in advance,” she said, adding that they arranged Tk 40,000 to buy two sewing machines, an overlock and other instruments.

“We collected the money by contributing Tk 5,000 each.”

Of the 10, eight work on the factory floor while two others look after the business.

Although the initiative is a good one, their business still suffers from a lack of funds. Shobita said they needed financial help to succeed.

So far, they bought raw materials worth Tk 10,000 and have made Tk 5,000 in profit, with some unsold stock left. They have been engaged in manufacturing children wear.

But Shobita knows they need to do much more.

“We need around five to seven machines and some one lakh taka as cash in hand to run the operation fully,” she said.

Shobita believes they need to do something for themselves as no one else had helped them.

Khairul Mamun Mintu, organising secretary of the Garment Worker Trade Union Centre, praised the initiative but highlighted the need for offering them financial assistance so they can get back on their feet.

He suggested that the government, as well as the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, should come forward in this regard.

Though praiseworthy, the initiative is still a hard one, with the workers still suffering from physical, mental and familial issues. 

Bilkis Banu, an injured worker of the factory, said her son had left her after her injuries and she was now struggling to survive.

Formerly, a sewing machine operator on the third floor of Tazreen Fashion garments factory, Bilkis jumped from the second floor of the building to escape the fire and injured herself.

“I still am not fit to work. We have gone broke by going to different hospitals and clinics in the past few years,” she said.

She added that she had been able to get some assistance from the “Injured Workers Medical Care Trust” formed in 2016.

Similarly, before the mini-factory started operations, another worker at the new factory, Jorina Begum, had been unemployed for the last five years as she was suffering from trauma and taking treatment at Ibn Sina Hospital in Dhaka with the help of Tazreen and Rana Plaza Claim Administration Committee.

She too had escaped the fire by jumping from a second-storey window, resulting in a serious injury to her back. Ever since then, she has been unable to sit or stand for long hours. Her husband left her soon after the incident.

Jorina received TK 2.5 lakh in financial grant from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), with which she ran her family and paid for her treatment in the last four years.

Failing to find a suitable job, she returned to her native Mymensingh, only to return when this new opportunity opened.

Like in Jorina's case, for most of the victims, the assistance money has dried up and not many are seeing a ray of hope.

Although many received financial grants and free treatment from several international and national organisations, including ILO and BILS, and even the prime minister, it has done little to remedy their current living situation.

Due to the nature of their injuries and the mental trauma suffered, many workers are finding it hard to secure a job, with their expenses growing.

Rehena Begum, another survivor, suffers from unbearable back pain which makes it difficult for her to work. On top of that, she said she had to spend over Tk 500 on medication every month.

At least 113 workers were killed and 172 were injured on November 24, 2012, in the fire at Tazreen, some 35km south of Dhaka.

When the fire broke out, the workers attempted to leave the building through the front gate, but the management had locked it from outside. Most of the survivors were left with little choice but to jump off the upper-storey windows of the building.

Later, two cases were filed with Ashulia Police Station against the factory owner and others. Police submitted charge sheets in both cases against 13 people, including the factory owner Delowar Hossain, on September 2015.

The cases are currently under trial at the Additional Sessions Judge Court-1 in Dhaka.

Meanwhile Abdul Motin, brother of a victim, filed another case with the High Court over the incident, which too was transferred to the Additional Sessions Judge Court-1, said Shohidul Islam Shobuj, convener of Biplobi Garments- Textile Sramik Forum, a worker's organisation in Bangladesh.

Afterwards, Tazreen's Managing Director Delwar Hossain was sent to jail in February 2014 on charges of causing deaths by negligence. He was released on bail six months later.

Khairul Mamun Mintu, organising secretary of Garment Worker Trade Union Centre, said more than two thousand workers were in the factory when the fire broke out. The actual number of injured workers is well over 172, he claimed.