Remediation of errant RMG units uncertain over funding

Uncertainty looms large over remediation of non-compliant garment factories identified under a government-led inspection drive prompted by a recent crisis as the necessary funding matter is not effectively settled, industry-insiders and officials have said.
Under the government-ILO scheme, BUET has already assessed 250 garment units and is expected to inspect about 1300 to 1500 factories left out of the purview of inspection by the two retailers' groups Accord and Alliance. The two have raised the issue of worker safety and factory conditions against the backdrop of workplace tragedies.
Twenty-five percent of the BUET-inspected units were marked red and amber while the rest were marked yellow and green. Of the factories marked red, two were closed so far.
BUET has handed over the reports on inspected 200 factories to the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) and the latter started on July 2 distributing the reports with corrective action plan to the factory owners concerned.
But sector-insiders and officials apprehend that the government-led improvement programme might fail to bring the desired result, if the remedial work could not be done due to shortage of funds as majority of the factories are small and medium ones.
The western retailers-Accord and Alliance-have commitments to assist those factory owners who are unable to carry out the remedial mark while the government-ILO project has no such clear indication what the insiders they pointed out as a cause of uncertainty.  
"We are also concerned about the funds required for post-inspection period as there is no such arrangement," a top government official said, indicating difficulties in doing the daunting task of streamlining the industry as per the westerners' set standards.
If corrective work does not take place due to non-availability of requisite funds, the inspection programme would fail to yield the desired result, he forecast.
The government and the ILO are implementing a three-and-a-half-year-long project involving $24.21 million to improve working conditions in the readymade garment (RMG) sector in five areas.
They are: inspection of RMG factories for building, fire and electrical safety; strengthening labour inspection and supporting fire and building inspection; occupational safety and health awareness among RMG workers; rehabilitation and skills training of the survivors of Rana Plaza collapse; and implementation of Better Work Programme in the country.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) president Md Atiqul Islam said considering the gravity of the issue, they demanded a budgetary allocation so that the incapable factory owners got funds required for the post-inspection period.
"But the government paid little heed to our request," he noted.
He requested the government to take steps on @ priority basis so that the funds are available to those units at a low interest rate.
"Almost all commercial banks have their own CSR funds and they could be used for making the garment factories compliant," he suggested.
Shahidullah Azim, vice-president of the association, said those units are small and medium ones and they have fund constraints.
"We want fund as loan, not grants, so that they can be compliant," he said, adding that these units are unlikely to get funds from JICA as they could not meet its conditions.  
Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem, additional research director at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, said majority of the units that are inspected by BUET are in the small and medium categories and probably they might need more funds to carry out the remedial work.
To create the image that all the garment factories are compliant, the issues must be addressed in these units, he said. The government should initiate talks with ILO and other donor agencies in this regard, he suggested.
"How much fund is required for the remediation of those units and how they could be managed, government should start discussion with its development partners," he said.
The policy researcher recommends that BGMEA, BKMEA and buyers also be brought under the purview of the holistic approach to the major task, related to the major export sector's world market.