Joynal Abedin Khan :The number of closed readymade garment (RMG) factories in the country, including Dhaka, Gazipur, Narayanganj and Chittagong, is on rise due to political unrest, want of investment, apathy of the foreign buyers to trade, withdrawal of given order by foreign buyers, insufficient gas and power supply, demand for increase of workers’ wages. As a result, more than 350 garment factories had been closed sine die and at least 1,20,000 workers lost their jobs permanently, said the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Vice-President Md Shahidullah Azami. The Garments Sramik Unity Forum’s President Moshrefa Mishu on Friday claimed that the factories were closed after announcement of the new wage board for the garment workers in November 2013.She added that the factory owners sacked a large number of workers, falsely accusing them of stealing the products from the factories, among others. She said that millions of workers in the country’s 4,000 garment factories had been passing their days with high tension of losing jobs at any time.Eventually, the workers of a garment factory staged demonstration on August 28 for payment of their unpaid wages and reinstatement of sacked workers at Ashulia. Twenty-six more workers lost their jobs and a readymade garment (RMG) factory was declared closed for indefinite period amid the workers’ protest at Jamgara of Ashulia under Savar upazila in Dhaka district on August 27, police said. About 100 workers were dismissed in Chittagong in this month, sources said. Mostafizur Rahman, Director of Industrial Police in Ashulia said that the authorities had shut down the factories without showing any reason whatsoever.The police official said that the police administration always try to maintain law in and around factories area. A number of teams of Industrial Police remain ready to meet emergencies in the risky areas.
