RMG owners sit with bankers tomorrow to seek soft loan

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FE Report
Leaders of the apparel factory owners will sit with the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB) tomorrow (Monday) to seek soft loan aiming to clear salaries and Eid bonuses of workers to avert any unrest in the industry, sources said.
"The purpose of the meeting is to convince the bankers to disburse soft loan within the shortest possible time so that we can clear salaries and festival bonuses of the workers and employees," one leader said.
Earlier, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Adviser Mainul Hossain asked the factory owners to pay the workers salary and bonus by October 11.
"We have already informed the chief adviser, the chief of the army staff, the finance adviser and the central bank governor about the inability of some apparel factory owners in clearing the salaries and festival bonuses and sought their assistance in getting soft loans," Anwar Ul Alam Chowdhury Parvez, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) told the FE Friday.
President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Fazlul Haque stressed the need for speedy disbursement of government cash incentive worth Tk 681.9 million to the exporters in the textile sector for fiscal 2006-07, approved last week.
"Side by side the soft loan, the disbursement of cash incentive will enable the financially weak apparel units to clear salaries and bonuses," he further said.
The BKMEA president said the government should help owners of the apparel units to avoid any untoward incident that may take place due to non-payment of salaries and bonuses.
When asked, BGMEA president said: "We are optimistic about getting soft loan for payment of the dues of workers before the deadline expires."
He, however, called upon the workers and employees of the apparel units to maintain restraint and refrain themselves from participating in any destructive programme.
Workers, over the past few days, in and around the city staged demonstrations and vandalised some garment factories in support of their demand for payment of arrear salaries and Eid bonuses.