Economic Reporter :
For the first time in more than a year, two apex apparel and fabric manufacturers expressed their solidarity with the government to keep factories shut during July 23 to August 5 nationwide lockdown to curb deadly Covid-19 infection, across the country.
The bodies, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association and Bangladesh Textile Mills Association on Saturday issued separate memorandums, declaring factory and mills’ closure.
“We hope, in the interest of the country and the nation, the member mills under BTMA will remain closed during the government-declared lockdown,” BTMA President Mohammad Ali Khokan said in a memo.
“The association is aware that to make the government decision a success, BTMA mills have been closed,” Khokan said.
Meanwhile, BKMEA has said the Covid-19 pandemic threw Bangladeshi industries and entrepreneurs into disaster together with the global industries in the last 15 months.
“…But the second variants of the coronavirus is extremely dangerous. That is why the government, after talking to WHO, has decided to enforce a strict lockdown from July 23 to August 5, and our factories are not out of the lockdown purview,” BKMEA President AKM Salim Osman MP said in another memorandum.
All these trade bodies, including Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association put pressures on the government and kept their factories open during previous lockdowns, flouting health experts advises.
Some manufacturers said BGMEA has still been trying to convince the government to open their member factories amid the lockdown.
