Business of trashed fabrics provides another lifeline
Shikder Sohana Ferdous | Saturday, 19 July 2008
When Rokeya's husband died seven years ago she was in great trouble with two small children. Her husband neither left any money nor any property. Rokeya's poor in-laws were unable to take care of her family.
With no job in her village, she tarvelled to Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, in search of work and she got one in a garment factory. Rokeya could not keep the job for long. Thrown out of the job one day, she started looking for work once again. This time she found a new type of work: collecting fabric scrapes left by garment factories. Since then she has been doing well in the small business of collecting the scrapes and selling those to factories who make mostly yarn from the clothe trashes, locally known as Jhut Kapar.
The garment industry in Bangladesh has employed nearly two million people, most of them women. The industry has also led to the growth of a number of side businesses. Trading on fabric scrapes is one of them, which has provided jobs to many helpless people like Rokeya.
Consider the case of Hazrat Ali, 43, who lost his home to river erosion several years ago. Ali says he has been doing well in the work, earning Tk. 100 on an average everyday just by collecting the trashes and selling those to factories. ``Not much work is involved in it," claims Ali adding, "But the income is good enough to run my family."
There are now thousands of poor people like Rokeya and Ali who are involved in collecting fabric trash and selling those to factories. It is the fallout of the country's growing garment industry.
There are now more than 300 shops in Mirpur dealing with the fabric trash. The area is now called Jhutpalli. The shops have employed up to 3,000 workers, which is a big thing in a country where millions of youths are jobless. Some collect the trashes; others screen them according to their sizes and colour, while others are involved in transportation. Adult workers on an average earn Tk. 100 a day, while children less than that. Here too women outnumber men.
The trashes generated by the garment factories are again used to make yarn and cheap fabrics. Such fabrics are used to make pillow covers, blankets and bandages. According to the industry sources, millions of small pieces of trashes are collected every month. The business has grown big attracting many people who have formed their own association too.
Sirajul Haque, a member of the association, says he is one of those who first started the business. ``One day 23 years ago I saw piles of the trashed fabrics outside a garment factory in Mirpur and asked the owner if I could take those. The owner agreed. I then collected and screened the piles before selling those to a businessman. The return was good."
Since then, the business has become popular, attracting more people. It has attracted miscreants too. Since the business does not require much investment, except labour, it seems easy to many. Miscreants wanted to make quick money and thus they put the business into trouble.
A number of violent incidents, including the murder of a trader, has put the business into security spotlight. Alleged harassments by police have also increased.
Many in the industry believe that government support is needed in making the business more formal and disciplined.
Mohamad Hashem, one of the traders, complains that lack of support from the government is harming the business.
With no job in her village, she tarvelled to Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, in search of work and she got one in a garment factory. Rokeya could not keep the job for long. Thrown out of the job one day, she started looking for work once again. This time she found a new type of work: collecting fabric scrapes left by garment factories. Since then she has been doing well in the small business of collecting the scrapes and selling those to factories who make mostly yarn from the clothe trashes, locally known as Jhut Kapar.
The garment industry in Bangladesh has employed nearly two million people, most of them women. The industry has also led to the growth of a number of side businesses. Trading on fabric scrapes is one of them, which has provided jobs to many helpless people like Rokeya.
Consider the case of Hazrat Ali, 43, who lost his home to river erosion several years ago. Ali says he has been doing well in the work, earning Tk. 100 on an average everyday just by collecting the trashes and selling those to factories. ``Not much work is involved in it," claims Ali adding, "But the income is good enough to run my family."
There are now thousands of poor people like Rokeya and Ali who are involved in collecting fabric trash and selling those to factories. It is the fallout of the country's growing garment industry.
There are now more than 300 shops in Mirpur dealing with the fabric trash. The area is now called Jhutpalli. The shops have employed up to 3,000 workers, which is a big thing in a country where millions of youths are jobless. Some collect the trashes; others screen them according to their sizes and colour, while others are involved in transportation. Adult workers on an average earn Tk. 100 a day, while children less than that. Here too women outnumber men.
The trashes generated by the garment factories are again used to make yarn and cheap fabrics. Such fabrics are used to make pillow covers, blankets and bandages. According to the industry sources, millions of small pieces of trashes are collected every month. The business has grown big attracting many people who have formed their own association too.
Sirajul Haque, a member of the association, says he is one of those who first started the business. ``One day 23 years ago I saw piles of the trashed fabrics outside a garment factory in Mirpur and asked the owner if I could take those. The owner agreed. I then collected and screened the piles before selling those to a businessman. The return was good."
Since then, the business has become popular, attracting more people. It has attracted miscreants too. Since the business does not require much investment, except labour, it seems easy to many. Miscreants wanted to make quick money and thus they put the business into trouble.
A number of violent incidents, including the murder of a trader, has put the business into security spotlight. Alleged harassments by police have also increased.
Many in the industry believe that government support is needed in making the business more formal and disciplined.
Mohamad Hashem, one of the traders, complains that lack of support from the government is harming the business.