MOST national dailies on Friday reported on the death of seven workers and injury to over 50, besides scores of others trapped under rubbles in a suddenly collapse of the roof of an under construction warehouse of a big cement factory at Bagerhat on the bank of the Passur river. The news came as a big shock to the nation from the initial fear that the casualties may be yet higher compared to the huge size of the warehouse having 4062 sqft basement and 40 feet height. Estimates suggest over 180 workers were on the roof at the moment. The report said it is a project of Sena Kalyan Sangstha and China National Building Material Company (CNBMC) is building the sprawling storage facility. But a local firm is working for fixing the ceiling of the roof on sub-contracting basis. Reports said Sena Kalyan Sangstha has already set up a three-member committee to probe into the cause of the accident; although experts on the spot have primarily blamed weak scaffolding of the roof as mainly responsible for the disaster.We must say such accidents at construction sites are often reported in the media and probe committees set up but they are going on unabated without visible improvement in the ground. This is because, as we see the value of the life of ordinary workers to rich construction companies does not matter much compared to their greed for material gains from such projects. So they do not take appropriate safety measures at workplace. The government labour directorate is equally keeping indifferent to enforcing workers’ safety at construction sites. Moreover the absence of insurance coverage to workers has made them silent victims of what many believe as the Will of God to die any time anywhere under the rubbles. We see, workers often face death and injuries especially at high-rise buildings but we don’t know whether any compensation is paid to families of dead or injured for treatment such as those died or injured at Sena Kalyan Sangstha’s cement factory project at Mongla. Moreover, technical fitness of many firms engaging in construction projects is a high suspect. Experts’ initial opinion on the collapse of the ceiling of the cement factory is highly suggestive that the local firm working for it was not up to the standard. The construction contractors must be asked to compensate the victims.
