Over hundred sub-contracting apparel factories close down

More than one hundred sub-contracting apparel factories, mostly non-compliant ones, have been closed and many others are at the verge of closure mainly for want of sufficient work, industry insiders said.
They said the sub-contracting factories have long been facing dearth of work as big garment makers, who take work orders directly, are either turning away from the third parties or are opting for the compliant ones in the face of strict monitoring of safety measures by the buyers.
Lower volume of manufacturing work of their mother companies has also played a role behind the situation.
Sources said, the sub-contracting factories randomly engage child labour in production and other safety measures like fire safety, exit facilities and their timely payments are rarely maintained. And after Tazreen and Rana Plaza incidents buyers have become cautious working with such factories.
"I had been doing sub-contracting work in my factory for a long, but after the deadly incidents, my local buyers have become cautious in giving me work citing poor working conditions and finally I had been forced to close down the factory last month for want of work," Three Star Apparel managing partner Abu Ibrahim admitted to the FE.
Another subcontracting factory owner Khalilur Rahman said he and his three business colleagues who were running business on different floors of a rented building tried to upgrade their factories to compliant ones but failed to obtain certifications from the concerned authorities as they failed to fulfill qualifying criteria.
"Following continuous pressure from the mother companies after the deadly incidents, we have tried to upgrade our factories to a compliant one but failed as our landlord did not follow the building code while constructing his houses and finally we had to declare lay-off in our factory," he added.
Mr Rahman, however, urged the authorities concerned, buyers and the big players to give enough time to the sub-contracting factories so that they could upgrade their units.
"If the parties do not try to understand the reality, then hundreds of such factories would face closure and the big players would also face difficulties in timely shipment."
According to Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the sub-contracting firms numbering 1,500-2,000 are mostly located at the rented and unhygienic houses in Dhaka, Chittagong, Narayanganj, Gazipur, Ashulia and some other industrial zones of the country. They do not comply with many of the safety issues.
Of the factories, around 300 of BGMEA member factories are running business through sub-contracting without being compliant.
However, BGMEA president Atiqul Islam said the association has nothing to do for the sub-contracting factories if they cannot upgrade themselves to a compliant one.
"Compliance issue has now become a burning issue in the international arena. If a factory fails to ensure a decent working condition, we cannot do much for them," he added.
The BGMEA president, however, said the association is providing all sorts of support to the factory owners so that they can upgrade their factories into compliant ones.
Meanwhile, the big garment owners are take direct manufacturing orders from buyers and, in many cases, they assign their tasks to third-party houses to make timely shipments.
The main buyers would usually overlook third-party manufacturing, but this has now emerged as one of the thorny issues following the frequent disasters in the garment factories.
However, according to different government agencies, many owners of sub-contracting factories are rushing to the concerned offices to obtain necessary certifications aiming to upgrade their units as compliant ones.