Outcome of the ongoing inspection programmes has come under doubt following a fresh row between the local experts and those appointed by the retailers over the required concrete strength of apparel factory buildings, sources involved with the process said.
The review committee has stopped visiting the ready-made garment (RMG) factories that have been identified as risky ones by the Accord and the Alliance inspection teams, they mentioned.
The committee has also decided not to take any decision regarding closure or suspension of production at RMG units until the engineers reach an agreement over the disputed issue, they added.
They said such a situation would further delay the remediation of non-compliant garment factories affecting the overall improvement in workplace safety programmes, which are continuously facing different hindrances.
Some issues are yet to be resolved including payment of workers, a comprehensive exit plan for the factory owners who are forced to shut down their units, while legal complexities have arisen after the shutdown of Softex, a garment factory, following Accord's inspection.
Inspection General of Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments Syed Ahmed said, "It is a must for the four engineers to reach a unanimous decision regarding the concrete strength for smooth and successful execution of the inspection programmes."
It is difficult to take any decision when the experts are divided on their opinions, he told the FE expressing his hope that the issue would be resolved shortly.
"Once the technical issue is unanimously resolved, we will visit those units and take decisions accordingly," Mr Ahmed said.
During the safety assessment, the BUET considered the concrete strength of a building at 2,500 pound per square inch, but Accord and Alliance considered the concrete strength at 1,500 PSI for brick-made structure and at 2,000 PSI for stone-made ones, a source said.
The official review committee comprising four engineers, one each from the Accord and the Alliance and two from BUET, Inspector General of DIFE and a BGMEA leader re-assess the manufacturing unit following the western retailers' findings of serious structural flaws.
Unanimous decision is required for suspending production at any garment unit or declaring any factory shut. But the engineers are yet to reach a consensus over the strength of concrete, the source said.
Recently, the Accord and the Alliance requested the review committee to re-assess their recommendations on five factories where their engineers have identified structural flaws.
The Accord-recommended four factories are Mim Dresses Ltd in Dhaka, Ali Apparels at Narayanganj and Newtech Apparels and Sadaf Fashion in Chittagong, while the Alliance recommended Bay Fashion in Chittagong.
But the review committee is yet to visit those units following the discord.
The official committee so far directed to suspend production at 16 factories following the Accord's and the Alliance's recommendation during the last three months. Seven out of 16 were closed permanently.
Labour ministry sources said the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) has yet to complete the report of its surveyed 252 garment factories, with inspection done three months ago, mainly because of their disagreement on the technical issue-concrete strength.
International Labour Organisation (ILO), as a neutral body, has appointed a consultancy firm to resolve the issue but has yet to come to a conclusion, they added.
When contacted, ILO Bangladesh Country Director Srinivas Reddy said the experts would sit this week to resolve the issue.
On the other hand, local apparel manufacturers and retailers, especially the Accord signatories, are in a row over the payment of workers and post-inspection complexities.
Alliance Managing Director M Rabin said the Alliance was paying one month's workers' wages and the manufactures would pay another one month's wages during any factory's production suspension.
But the Accord representative reiterated its position saying that the owners have to pay the workers, while Accord will assist the owners during remediation.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) president Md Atiqul Islam said "On safety issue, we follow zero tolerance if any building is identified faulty. It has to be closed."
But all should come forward to overcome the post-inspection problems, especially payment of workers, their re-employment, owners' bank and customs liabilities, their current orders, Mr Islam said posing a question as to who would take the burden of all these.
"It's not possible for the owners alone to shoulder all the responsibilities," he said adding a comprehensive plan was needed for the greater interest of the industry.
However, industry people and government officials said if the programmes were not successfully completed, or stopped, it might give a negative message to the world again which would seriously tarnish the image of the country's apparel sector.
Then the image could not be regained, they feared.
They stressed identifying the problems first, and continuing negotiation to resolve the ongoing crisis through discussions for the greater interest of the sector.
Local, foreign experts engage in fresh row
Monira Munni | Published: May 10, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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