Staff Reporter :
Hazaribagh Tanners have threatened the government of grater movement if all the utility connections are not given to their new factories at Savar on time.
Tannery owners said this from a demonstration against the government’s recent move to cut all connections to the tanneries operating in the city’s Hazaribagh area.
They said if the government fails to provide all utility connections to their factories at new tannery estate of Hamayatpur in Savar within the time fixed by the High Court, they will make the authority concerned bound to reconnect their delinked connections at Hazaribagh.
“We will go for grater movement in case of the government failure to provide connections in our factories in new Tannery Estate on time,” said Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leather Goods and Footwear Exporters Association’s Chairman Mohiuddin Ahmed Mahin.
We cannot sit idle as all our business activities are not in operation after delinking the utility connections of our factories. We are waiting to see what the government can do, he added.
Earlier, on March 30, The Supreme Court ordered all 154 tannery owners to relocate their factories from Hazaribagh to Savar by April 6.
Meanwhile, the utility services like power, gas and water to all the Hazaribagh tanneries were disconnected on Saturday as per a High Court order.
Earlier on March 6, the High Court directed the government to immediately shut down the Hazaribagh tanneries and disconnect all of their utility services, including gas line, power and water, as they missed several deadlines to relocate their factories to the Savar Tannery Estate.
On March 2, the HC directed 154 Hazaribagh tannery owners to pay Tk 306.50 million fine for not relocating their factories to the Tannery Estate in Savar within the given time.
On July 18 last, the Supreme Court ordered each of the 154 tannery owners at Hazaribagh to pay the government Tk 10,000 per day as fine for not relocating their factories to the Tannery Estate in Savar.
After the court’s first instruction of relocation the government extended several times of the relocation deadline on requests from the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC), the implementing agency of the tannery estate project.
However, tanners said that many of their fellow businesses would be able to start production at Savar if the government agencies provide all utility connections within the time fixed by the court.
“We are happy with the court’s order to provide connections within fifteen days. If such orders were issued earlier, then relocation would happen before. Now we are waiting for the implementation of the order, otherwise we will go for strict movement,” said Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA) Chairman Shaheen Ahmed.
