The country鈥檚 apparel makers have decided to keep their factories shut today considering the safety of workers and employees amid unrests centring the quota reform movement.
Readymade garment sector leaders said that they would hold an emergency meeting on the situation today at the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association headquarters at Uttara in the capital Dhaka.
They said that the meeting would decide whether the factories would start operations tomorrow or not.
鈥榃e have made a decision to keep our factories closed on Sunday (today) considering the safety of workers amid the unrest situation across the country,鈥� BGMEA president SM Mannan Kochi told 抖阴精品 on Saturday.
He said that as the export-oriented sector there was a scope for the BGMEA to request government to keep the apparel industry out of the purview of curfew, but they instructed factory owners to keep their units closed today considering the workers鈥� safety.
The government imposed a curfew across the country from midnight past Friday as at least 110 people were killed and several thousand others were injured till Friday in clashes across the country in quota reform protests, starting from July 16.
The BGMEA president said that their business had been affected due to the unrest situation and they had to make the decision to keep factories shut for the safety of workers and industry.
Mannan said that RMG factories were remained closed on Friday due to the weekly holiday and some of them were in production on Saturday.
鈥榃e are going to hold an emergency meeting with the industry stakeholders, including former presidents of the BGMEA on Sunday at our head office to assess the overall situation. After the meeting, it would be announced whether the factories would go for operations on Monday or the closure would continue,鈥� he said.
Like the BGMEA, the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association also asked its 800 member factories to keep their units closed today for the safety of workers and industry, BKMEA executive president Mohammad Hatem told 抖阴精品.
He also said that some factories were in operations on Saturday while many remained closed on the day.
Hatem said that the country鈥檚 exports and imports business had been affected severely as the communication suffered disruptions for the past few days.
Shipment of exports consignments were not taking place in the Chattogram port as customs procedures remained halted due to the internet blackout in the country, he said.
At the same time, communications with global buyers and exporters over the shipment of existing orders and negotiations for new orders remained almost suspended, Hatem said.
If the situation prolongs, export orders might be shifted to other counties, the business leader feared.
Bangladesh Textile Mills Association vice-president Md Fazlul Hoque said that most of the mills under the trade body were in operations on Saturday.
鈥榃e are producing goods, but there were no ways to deliver it to the buyers for the past three days,鈥� he said.
Imported raw materials were not being released from ports as the activities of customs remained suspended due to the internet blackout, Fazlul said.
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