Editorial
BGMEA Bhaban
We are delighted to learn that government has finalised its allotment of land in the heart of the city to the apex body of garments exporters - the BGMEA - for a building of their own. This will no doubt help boost our export trade in garments which is likely to come under far greater international competitive pressure than ever before.
However as we welcome this decision we would like to make some points that we think should receive priority attention both of the government and the BGMEA. We think before a single taka is spent on the Bhavan both parties must ensure that every step has been taken to provide the garment workers a safe place to work. It will be a mockery of our democratic values and human rights proclamations if, on the one hand, money is poured in the construction of a modern building while, on the other hand, more and more workers meet unnecessary deaths from easily preventable fires in their factories and from stampede that usually follow such incidents. It will be reprehensible and morally unacceptable if garment factory owners shy away from providing the minimum working condition for their workers and at the same time spend money for a modern headquarters.
We cannot express strongly enough our outrage at the fact that even after numerous incidents of fire and so many unnecessary deaths most of the garment factories are still to provide that minimum safety and comfort for their workers which considerations of decency, law and profit should all compel them to.
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