Leather units to be relocated in 3 months after CETP is completed

FE Report | Published: May 16, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

Exporters of leather goods Thursday said 70 per cent of present pollution from the tanneries situated at the capital's Hazaribagh area can be cut by partial relocation to Savar Tannery Estate within this year.
They also said relocation of the tanneries is a must for the survival of the industry, export growth of leather and leather goods and welfare of workers engaged in the industry. They said the tanners are ready to shift to Savar as soon as construction of the central effluent treatment plant (CETP) by the government is completed.
They were speaking at a press conference organised on the occasion of a national seminar on 'Environmentally Friendly Leather Industries in Bangladesh: A Roadmap to Competitiveness and Sustainability' at the conference room of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) in the city. The EPB and the RMM Leather Industry jointly organised the press conference.
EPB vice-chairman Shubhashish Bose briefed the journalists about the seminar which will be held on May 18 at the ballroom of Ruposhi Bangla Hotel. Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu will be present as the chief guest along with Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed and Environment Minister Anwar Hossain Manju and industry leaders, among others.
While answering questions of journalists, RMM Leather Industries managing director Aniruddha Roy said they should not think of relocating 100 per cent industries at a time. Rather the process should be a target-oriented one which can help reduce major pollution.
"Relocation is a must for the survival of the leather industry. We can shift a portion of the industries by 2014 through which 70 per cent pollution could be stopped," he said.
"If the CETP is complete at Savar Tannery Estate, we will be ready to shift within three months," he assured.
Mr Roy said there are many foreign companies which produce shoes and other leather goods in Bangladesh. But they do not use Bangladeshi leather because of the compliance issues. Besides, many Scandinavian countries and various companies of Germany and their consumers do not use Bangladeshi leather and leather products.
He claimed workers of the Hazaribagh tanneries are more industry-friendly than any other industry of Bangladesh. They devotedly work for the industry, never agitate or vandalise and even run the factories during hartals.
RMM Leather Industries Ltd chairman Mohiuddin Ahmed Mahin said all the tanneries at Hazaribagh will be shifted to Savar by the first quarter of next year. This one year is very important for the leather industry of Bangladesh in terms of protecting the industry, increasing growth, and welfare of one million workers of the industry. All these depend on what steps Bangladesh takes.
"But we are facing various pressures from the outside world. They say they will stop import of Bangladeshi leather if we continue polluting environment this way," he added.
Mr Mahin said the RMM Leather Industries has been producing ecological leather for the last 10 years. The company was given an award this year at the Asia Pacific Leather Fair (APLF) 2014 held in Hong Kong. Vegetable sources and chemicals are used to produce ecological leather which is comparatively less harmful for environment and is well accepted by foreign buyers.
"Earlier this technology was limited within our company. Now we want to spread this good practice to other leather industries so that they can produce ecological leather. The export of Bangladeshi leather and leather goods will increase," he said.
Mr Shubhashish said the government has been giving importance to primary phase-wise development to produce value-added leather and leather goods.
He said production of leather shoes and other leather products has increased. This indicates that a demand for the finished leather has been created in the domestic market.
"Although the domestic demand and production of finished leather has increased, still we cannot use our finished leather in foreign markets, not even in our export processing zones (EPZs) due to absence of infrastructure to produce environment-friendly leather," he added.
He said Bangladesh now exports only 0.005 per cent of the global leather and leather goods market worth $234 billion.
About 128 companies exported leather and leather goods worth about US$ 424.05 million in the first 10 months of FY 2013-14, which is about 34 per cent higher than the corresponding period of the previous year.