Garment exporters Sunday protested the government's order to shut down the factories during the World Cup cricket, saying the move has already affected the country's main export earners. The government this week ordered the factories to shut in the peak hours between 1700 and 2300 till April 2 in a desperate bid to divert power to households so that cricket-crazy people can watch matches on televisions. "We have told the factories about the government decision and asked them to shut their plants in the peak hours during the World Cup," said Manjur Rahman, head of state-owned Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited. The order has enraged the country's 5,000 garment exporters who have been enjoying a boom time never seen in the country's history and their millions of poor labouers who are making hefty bucks working over-time. Their grouping, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), wrote a letter to the power minister and the prime minister's office, protesting the anti-industry and anti-labour move. "The order to shut factories has already started affecting the garment factories. We won't be able to ship our products in time if the order is not scrapped immediately," said BGMEA president Abdus Salam Murshedy. "All the factories have been booked with export orders. If they can't process the orders in time, it will obviously anger the buyers. Our reputation as the fastest growing garment exporter will be seriously dented," he told the FE. Apparel export is the backbone of Bangladesh economy, accounting for 80 percent of the country's 16.2 billion dollars shipment in the 2009-10 financial year. The factories employ more than three million workers, mostly women. Garment shipment has been growing at a record 42 percent in the seven months to January and Murshedy said total apparel export would hit all-time high figure of 17.5 billion dollars in the finacial year ending in June, 2011. "The whole economy will be affected because of this anti-industry step. We are great cricket fans, but that does not mean that we shall shut factories just to watch World Cup matches," he said. Murshedy said leaders of the BGMEA would meet the energy adviser and the state minister for power over the issue on Monday and request them to make the order not effective for garment factories. It was not clear whether other factories including the jute manufacturers whose workers have been working over-time to execute export orders have been hit by the government decision. The government took similar step during the soccer World Cup in 2010 when tens of thousands of people took the streets and staged violent protests over frequent power blackouts during key matches. Officials have said they have no other choice but to divert power to households from factories to households if the fans are to see seven-eight hour long cricket match without any blackouts. The country faces power crisis as demand has outstripped supply by 30 percent. The crisis is acute during peak hours in the night when the state-owned suppling companies ration power. Bangladesh is a a co-host of the 10th edition of the World Cup cricket, along with India and Sri Lanka. The showpiece event of international cricket started in the capital on February 19 and continue through April 2 when the Indian city of Mumbai hosts the final. Millions of cricket-crazy fans across the country erupted in wild celebrations on Friday night after Bangladesh beat Ireland in a nerve-wracking grudge match.
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