Special Correspondent :
Hundreds of garment factories reopened on Sunday defying a nationwide coronavirus lockdown raising fears that the industry’s large workforce could be exposed to the contagion.
Industry leaders on Saturday said that the member factories of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), located in Dhaka Metropolitan area, will reopen from today after ensuring necessary health safety measures.
But factories located in Sarvar, Ashulia and Gazipur industrial belts and Chattogram also resumed their operation as their suppliers now being pushed to fulfill outstanding export orders.
Even thousands of RMG workers return to work from across the country taking hazardous journeys.
Hasina Akhter, 30, who works at a factory in Gazipur, said she had no choice but to return to work amid risk losing her job.
Industrial Police-1 Savar-Ashulia Zone Director Sana Shamimur Rahman said as many as 130 factories resumed operation on Sunday due to emergency shipment including PPE production. Besides, 40 factories in DEPZ also reopned.
“But the presence of workers remained thin (20 per cent),” he added.
Earlier, big-name international brands and retailers to retailers such as H&M, Inditex and Walmart have cancelled or held up billions of dollars in order due to the pandemic crippling the industry which accounts for over 80 per cent of the country’s export earnings.
Bangladesh shipped apparels worth $35 billion in the last fiscal year taking up seven per cent share of global market.
“Factories have been asked to reopen gradually to save the economy and the livelihood of millions of workers. Initially, factories of Dhaka metropolitan areas were supposed to reopen on Sunday. Some factories of Savar and Ashulia also resumed their operation on the day to executive emergency export order,” Abdus Salam Murshedy, MP, a member of the government’s high-level taskforce, told The New Nation on Sunday.
Bangladesh’s competitors such as China, Vietnam and Cambodia are reopening their export-oriented industries and countries like Germany and France are slowly reopening their major industries despite being under coronavirus risk. “We also have to take steps after reviewing the overall situation.”
When asked, Salam Murshedy, a former President of BGMEA, said, member factories of BGMEA and BKMEA had already paid their worker’s March salary and they would get their April payment through mobile cash transfer.
Factories shut their doors in late March in line with the government’s nationwide closures to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
“We have reopened factories after complying with possible health protocols,” Mohammad Hatem, Vice-President of BKMEA told The New Nation.
He said factories were “under pressure” from brands to meet export deadlines and feared the risk that billions in orders could be diverted to competing operations in countries like Vietnam or China.
When asked, he said, “The entire world is at risk due to the coronavirus. But we have to take the risk of factory reopening to save the country’s largest industrial sector as well as the economy. A prolong period of factory closure will invite huge economic consequences.”
Earlier, BGMEA President Rubana Huq said they had a demand for reopening 865 garment factories as most of them have orders in hand.
She also mentioned that apparel factories faced order cancellations of more than $3 billion due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, thousands of RMG workers return to work from across the country taking hazardous journeys.
From Mymensingh, scores of garment workers tried coming to Dhaka on Sunday, but there were reports of police forcing them to return to their respective homes in the district’s Shambhuganj, Pat Gudam Bridge, and Digharkanda Bypass areas.
Mahmudul Islam, officer-in-charge of Kotwali model police station, said there were no directives from the government for those workers to return to work who lived in areas at a distance from their factories, which is why law enforcement was sending them back, to prevent further spread of the coronavirus.
“Only those who live near their factories can rejoin work. No one else. That is what we told workers and convinced them to return,” he added.
Hamidur Rahman, a sewing operator at a factory in Gazipur’s Salna area, said he returned to work on Sunday from Mymensingh.
“It cost me Tk1,400 from Mymensingh’s Haluaghat to Maona upazila in Gazipur, using a motorcycle, and walking to get back,” he added.
Over 2,000 workers reportedly used the Mawa ferry in Munshiganj to reach Dhaka on Sunday.
Md Helal Uddin, in-charge of Mawa traffic police, said although light vehicles were barred from using the ferry, workers used CNG-run auto-rickshaws, covered vans, trucks, rickshaws, vans, and other vehicles to reach the capital.
“Many used rickshaws or simply walked after getting off at Mawa ferry ghat. All these methods were costly for all of them,” he added.
Md Shafiqul Islam, assistant manager of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) at Shimulia ghat, said at least 500 goods-laden trucks and covered vans crossed over on the ferry, on Sunday.
Many workers said drivers capitalized on the lack of transportation for workers, charging higher fares to make a quick buck.
A worker from Barisal said he and many others came to Shimulia ferry ghat in Madaripur from Barisal in an ambulance for Tk1,500 per person.
