Govt mulls amendments to fire fighting rules

The government has put on hold the fire prevention and fire fighting rules 2014 to make some changes in its provisions following the demand from the apparel makers, officials said.
The decision was taken at a meeting held at the ministry of home recently with State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal. Representatives from Fire Service and Civil Defence (FSCD), Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), labour and commerce ministries and leaders from the apparel sector's apex bodies - BGMEA and BKMEA - attended the meeting.
The meeting formed a committee and asked them to put forward their recommendations for necessary amendments to the rules within next two months after consulting with all stakeholders, said a source who attended the meeting.
"A decision has been taken to put on hold the fire prevention and fire fighting rules 2014 until necessary amendments are made," Siddique Ullah Bhuiyan, joint secretary of the home ministry, told the FE.
A committee will work in this regard and hopefully necessary amendments will be made within next two months, he added.
Earlier in September 2014, the ministry of home through a gazette notification published the rules to implement Fire Prevention and Fire Fighting Act 2003, a decade after the law was passed.
But Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) alleged that the rules had been finalised without discussion with the stakeholders concerned and they had problems enforcing the rules.
The draft was prepared in 2008 while it got the final shape in 2014, said Ali Ahmed Khan, director general of FSCD. "Some provisions need further changes with the passage of time."
A group of entrepreneurs, especially garment makers alleged that they had problems enforcing some provisions of the rules, he said, adding that suspension of the rules would not have any impact on the FSCD's regular monitoring and other activities.
Explaining the difficulties being faced by the apparel manufacturers, Md Shahidullah Azim, vice president of BGMEA, said each industrial factory must have a 25 feet road surrounding its building and the road in front of the factory to be 15 metres in wide.
 "These cannot be maintained in line with the existing ones rather it could be implemented for industrial zones and new factories," he added.
BGMEA and BKMEA opposed the requirements, including 100 feet long hose-reel for a 1000 square feet floor, overhead water tank with the capacity of 10,000 gallons and 50,000-gallon capacity underground water reservoirs for the factories.
They also disagreed with the requirements that industrial units should have reservoirs with the capacity of 0.2 million gallons to install hydrants and pump houses with a 500gpm main pump, one standby diesel pump and one jockey pump near the water bodies to ensure required water supply.
They demanded bringing about necessary changes to the issues regarding to occupancy certificates and licence fees which they termed higher, storage houses, number of exists and open space on rooftops.
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