Garment makers form panels to mark faulty factories

Garment makers yesterday formed two panels to inspect risky factory buildings under the purview of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha.
RAJUK Chairman Nurul Huda will lead the five-member core committee, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association President Atiqul Islam told reporters at the trade body's office in Dhaka. A technical committee convened by Sheikh Abdul Mannan, a member of the Rajuk board, will assist the core committee during inspection.
The members of the committees include Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, RAJUK, BGMEA and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, he said.
The committees will start work today, said Islam, adding that BGMEA is also set to open a cell to identify faulty garment factory buildings.
Factories outside the Rajuk area will be inspected by a committee formed by the labour ministry, Islam said. The BGMEA chief also pledged to pay wages to the garment workers working at Rana Plaza by May 7. “We are now preparing the workers' list.”
BGMEA has so far received around Tk 5 crore under its Disaster Relief Fund, Islam said.
Workers and officials of seven companies yesterday donated Tk 24.85 lakh, an accumulation of their one-day salaries, for the Rana Plaza victims.