Help finance safety measures

The call by US under secretary of state Wendy R. Sherman not to turn away from Bangladesh is good counsel. Bangladesh in the aftermath of Rana Plaza has been receiving unprecedented coverage in world media, most of it less than salutary. That is to be expected. What was not expected was a call by many in the West to stop sourcing apparels from the country altogether.
Putting a ban on readymade garments made in Bangladesh will do nothing to improve safety standards in the industry. It will end up putting out of work millions of workers, most of whom are women. The way forward is not punitive measures from Europe or the United States. Rather, constructive engagement by all parties, i.e. the government as regulator, the workers' unions, industry and buyers would improve matters. Regulators need to be made free from the influence of speed money. Manpower needs to be beefed up. Buyers' cannot shrug off their responsibility of future disasters with the excuse that they were ignorant of where the orders were being placed. Manufacturers cannot look the other way by sub-contracting work to substandard factories.
The coalition of Western retailers which recently pledged to help finance fire-safety and other improvements need to do a lot more. The accord leaves much to be desired, especially since the agreement obligates retailer to pay a maximum of US$2.5million for a single factory to upgrade over 5 years. That is not going to go far in terms of attaining desired improvement in the short term.