The S Alam Group reopened its nine factories on Wednesday following its withdrawal of the closure notices for the factories in the previous day.
However, production activities remained suspended due to a raw material shortage, company officials said.
The closure notices were withdrawn on Tuesday, as per a notice signed by Mohammad Borhan Uddin, head of the Group鈥檚 human resources and administration department.
Following the announcement, factory gates were reopened on Wednesday morning, allowing workers and employees to enter the factory premises.
The reopened factories include S Alam Refined Sugar Industries Limited, S Alam Power Plant Limited, S Alam Cold Rolled Steels Limited, S Alam Cold Rolled Steels Limited-NOF, S Alam Power Generation Limited, Infinity CR Strips Industries Limited, Chemon Ispat Limited, S Alam Bags and S Alam Steel.
Mohammad Hossain, manager (administration) of the S Alam Group, said, 鈥楢lthough the factories were declared closed, salaries and allowances for workers and employees continued. However, the workers insisted on returning to the factories. In response to their demands, the closure notices were revoked, and the factories reopened. However, production will remain suspended as the raw material crisis persists.鈥�
Earlier, on December 24, the S Alam Group abruptly announced the closure of the nine factories through three separate notices.
The sudden announcement had triggered immediate protests by factory workers, who also placed a 10-point demands before the authorities.
S Alam Group chairman Saiful Alam Masud was a close associate of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina who fled to India amid a student-led mass uprising on August 5.
Several government agencies are investigating asset embezzlement and money laundering allegations against S Alam.
S Alam allegedly took about Tk 2 lakh crore from a number of banks in names and anonymously. A large portion of the funds was allegedly laundered abroad.
Saiful Alam and his family members surrendered their Bangladeshi citizenship in 2020 and took Singaporean citizenship in 2021.