organised by CPD as part of the Post-Rana Plaza Monitoring: A Civil Society Initiative, the dialogue on”Rana Plaza Tragedy: Two Years After” was held in Brac Centre Inn on Tuesday, 21 April 2015.
View more news reports on the event
Published in Dhaka Tribune
Financial supports remain elusive to Rana Plaza victims
Tribune Report
Rana Plaza victims and their family members are still suffering from various kinds of physical and mental problems despite several initiatives taken to improve their living conditions over the last two years, say findings of a leading local think tank yesterday.
Besides, the amount of financial support received by the victims and their families so far is insufficient to meet their needs, although they were promised complete financial support to cover their monthly expenses as well as medical expenses for their treatment.
The findings were disclosed at a dialogue on “Rana Plaza Tragedy: Two Years After” arranged by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) at the city’s BRAC Centre Inn to mark the second anniversary of the collapse of the Rana Plaza building that housed garment factories in which more than 1,100 people died.
The victims and their families have spent a significant amount of money for the treatment of their conditions over the years although many of them were constrained by inadequate financial capacities, according to the fourth monitoring report of CPD presented by additional research director Khondaker Golam Moazzem at the function.
The monitoring report was prepared by taking telephone interviews this month of a selected number of victims and their family members to evaluate the current state of their physical condition, treatment for their injuries and the source of finance for their current state of their employment and income, and the status of financial support.
The report said most of the victims have children who require essential services like education, which is difficult to provide them from their limited income.
They are not at the same level compared to their condition prior to the collapse of Rana Plaza, it said.
“The living condition is very poor for the severely injured workers, and for families whose members were deceased but are yet to be identified. Among the injured workers, a few are employed locally in off-farm jobs after receiving training under various initiatives founded by different organizations.”
However, it said in most cases, their income is below what they received earlier. They are unemployed due to their poor physical condition and inability to engage in daily work.
At the function, victim and traumatised garment worker, Jesmin, described her ordeals since the Rana Plaza tragedy with choking voice.
“I was under the rubble for two days. My backbone has completely broken. I got back my sense at the CMH Hospital, Savar, after six days into the incident. After six months, I was released from the hospital.”
She said, “Now, I cannot work. High buildings still scar me. I got Tk50,000 from BILLS and Tk10,000 from Prime Minister’s fund over the last two years.”
After the death of her husband in 2010, Jesmin had to join the garment work. “Still, I have to take medicine worth Tk3,000-Tk4,000 per month. But the money what I received is not enough. Days are going somehow.”
Monowara Begum’s husband died at the Rana Plaza incident. She said, “I got Tk20,000 for burial of my husband. “After that, I got nothing. The life is so hard…the future is dark.”
The CPD report said during the second year, no additional missing workers have been identified through the use of DNA test or through verification of documents submitted by victims’ family members.
However, it said during the second year, considerable progress has been made in the areas, including commitment of the global clothing retailers’ towards providing long-term support to the victims.
Labour and Employment Secretary Mikail Shipar, former president of BGMEA Abdus Salam Murshedy, BGMEA Vice-President Md Shahidullah Azim, Assistant Executive Director of BILS Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmmed, President of Sommilito Garments and Dorji Sromik League Roy Ramesh Chandra and CPD distinguished fellow Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, among others, spoke at the programme.
Published in New Age
Living standard of Rana Plaza victims fell in 2yrs: CPD
Staff Correspondent
The living standard of the Rana Plaza victims and their families went down in the last two years after the tragic incident for lack of proper and adequate support, said the fourth monitoring report of Centre for Policy Dialogue published on Tuesday.
In a dialogue on ‘Rana Plaza Tragedy: After Two Years’, the CPD report said among the injured workers few were employed locally in off-farm jobs and in most cases their income was below what they would get previously.
Khondaker Golam Moazzem, additional research director of the CPD, presented the report in the event held At BRAC Centre Inn in the capital, saying that they conducted a telephone interview with a selected number of victims and their family members and found that despite various initiatives they were not financially at the same level compared to their condition prior of the collapse of Rana Plaza.
According to the report, the respondent victims are still suffering from various physical and mental problems and many of them are constrained by financial inadequacy.
The report also said two year after the incident the victims are yet to get the full compensation.
Lack of progress of the directives of the High Court with regard to compensation is another hurdle to local initiatives, the report stated.
Morium Begum, wife of a deceased day-labourer, said she lost her husband in the Rana Plaza collapse but she was yet to receive any compensation as her husband was not garment worker.
‘After the tragedy I received the body of my husband with Tk 20,000 for burial and till now I got nothing else,’ she said.
Jesmin Akter, a survivor of Rana Plaza, said in the accident she received injury in the spine and got treatment from Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed.
‘Now I cannot move and treatment is still going on but I received only Tk 50,000 from the Trust Fund as compensation,’ she said.
Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmmed, assistant executive director of Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies, said the culture of accountability should be developed to bring the people responsible for the incident to book.
Abdus Salam Murshedy, president of the Exporters Association of Bangladesh, urged the victims and their families, who were yet to get financial support, to contract the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
Murshedy announced to take the responsibility of Jesmin Akter, a survivor, and asked her to join his company.
Labour secretary Mikail Shiper said if the victims and their families thought that the assessment of their compensation amount was not right they could file complaints with the Rana Plaza Claim Administration.
Published in The Daily Star Business
Many Rana Plaza victims worse-off than before: CPD
The think-tank finds substantive progress in garment sector in many areas
Star Business Report
The living condition of the families of many deceased and injured workers of Rana Plaza is worse than it was prior to the fateful event two years ago, the Centre for Policy Dialogue said yesterday.
The private think-tank, however, said there has been progress in various areas, including disbursement of financial support to the families of deceased and surviving workers, re-employment of workers and medical care.
Positive reinforcements also came by in case of workplace safety and labour rights, the CPD said in the fourth edition of its monitoring report on the initiatives taken by the government, owners and other stakeholders in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza collapse.
Khondaker G Moazzem, additional research director of CPD, unveiled the report at a dialogue, which also marked the two-year anniversary of the event that claimed at least 1,138 lives, making it the worst industrial disaster in the nation’s history.
“Many of the injured victims are still suffering from various kinds of physical and mental problems. They have spent a significant amount of money for the treatment and many of them are constrained by inadequate financial capacities,” said Moazzem.
As a result, their socio-economic conditions remain worse than they were before the fatal event, he said citing a telephonic interview with 12 victims. At the dialogue, two injured survivors and a spouse of a worker were brought in to share their current state of living.
Injured Jesmin said she would earn Tk 10,000-Tk 11,000 a month by working at one of the five garment factories housed at the ill-fated building.
A single mother, she led a decent life with her only child, until her spinal cord snapped in the events that transpired on April 24, 2013. She had undergone treatment for five months.
“Till date I feel sick. I cannot work for my physical condition and trauma,” she said, adding that she has received a total of Tk 60,000 only in compensation.
“Is it my just compensation?” she asked, adding that she has to spend Tk 3,000-4,000 a month for treatment and medicine.
Monowara Begum said she had received only Tk 20,000 after the death of her husband, a construction working at the site at the time of the disaster.
CPD, in its report, said the amount of financial support received by victims and their families is insufficient for their needs. But considerable progress has been made in terms of disbursement of financial support.
So far, victims were given 70 percent of the sanctioned money, said CPD.
“There are some progresses. But still some jobs are undone,” said Debapriya Bhattacharya, distinguished fellow of CPD.
The think-tank said the injured workers are getting treatment facilities through various initiatives but workers living in remote areas especially outside of Dhaka face difficulties in availing the benefit.
A total of 2,122 workers have been re-employed up to the second year.
A number of surviving workers started their own businesses since the deadly event, and they face different kinds of difficulties in operating their businesses, Moazzem said.
With regards to factory inspections, after a slow start substantive progress was made in the second year, according to CPD.
As of April 2015, the number of garment factories assessed for structural safety has risen to 2,703, which is 77 percent of the total of 3,500 factories.
“Bangladesh’s apparel sector has undergone noteworthy restructuring and reforms over the last two years. There are already signs of positive changes in all areas — ranging from improved support to the victims to the development of the sector.”
Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmmed, assistant executive director of Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies, however, expressed dissatisfaction over the delay in trials of the persons responsible for the deadly chapter.
“South Korea has ensured justice within one year of the ferry disaster. But we could not do it in two years.”
Abdus Salam Murshedy, president of Exporters Association of Bangladesh, said 700 factories located in shared or converted buildings have shut down due to international retailers’ unwillingness to place orders in such structures.
He also urged the retailers to pay higher to ensure compliance.
Mikail Shipar, secretary of the ministry of labour and employment, said the financial support given to the victims was given as compensation, not as charity.
A total of Tk 183 crore, including assistance from the Prime Minister’s Relief and Welfare Fund, has been disbursed, Shipar said.
Asked about the large variations in payments among victims, he said the money was sanctioned ‘very judiciously’ for the victims in line with the convention 121 of the International Labour Organisation.
Published in The Daily Star
2 Years of Rana Plaza Disaster
Debate still on about number of victims in world’s worst workplace disaster in Bangladesh
Staff Correspondent
Even two years after the Rana Plaza collapse, the debate over the total number of unidentified victims rages on.
So far 206 of the dead workers, whose identity was initially unknown, have been identified through DNA tests, the Centre for Policy Dialogue said in a report yesterday.
The government couldn’t collect any information about 85 victims. As their identity couldn’t be known, their family members didn’t qualify for any financial support, said the think tank.
Labour Secretary Mikail Shipar, however, put the number of unidentified victims at 62.
Identity of 166 workers was initially unknown. Of them, 104 have been identified so far, he told this correspondent.
“On the basis of various claims, we are now trying to know about the 62 victims by contacting the local administration offices,” said Shipar.
The nine-storey Rana Plaza that housed a number of readymade garment factories collapsed on April 24,
2013, killing more than 1,100 people, mostly garment workers, and injuring many others.
At a programme in the capital’s Brac Centre Inn yesterday, CPD Additional Research Director Khondaker G Moazzem said 1,134 workers were found dead while 2,535 wounded workers were rescued.
In his survey report “Moving Beyond the Shadow of the Rana Plaza Tragedy: In Search of a Closure and Restructuring Strategy”, Moazzem touched on the issues of payment of compensation, treatment of the victims, future impact on businesses, suspension of the GSP and future action plans for the garment sector.
“There has been erratic information from different sources regarding the total number of missing workers,” he said.
Despite various initiatives, the victims and their families are not at the same level compared to their condition before the Rana Plaza collapse, he learnt through telephone interviews of some of the victims and their family members.
“The living condition is very poor for the severely injured workers, and for families whose members were killed but are yet to be identified. Among the injured workers, few are employed locally in off-farm jobs after receiving training under various initiatives by different organisations,” according to the report.
The respondents, including family members of the missing workers, mentioned that they received some financial support from organisations. But the amount varied widely from as low as Tk 75,000 to as high as Tk 12 lakh.
The difference was mainly because of varying levels of income as claimed by the victims and the various amounts of money they received (in two instalments) from the Rana Plaza Trust Fund.
“The amount of financial support received by victims and their families so far is insufficient to meet their needs although they were promised complete financial support to cover their monthly expenses as well as medical expenses for their treatment,” said the report.
On the transformation the sector went though after the incident, Moazzem said it is significant for national and international factors.
“The restructuring of the sector would provide it with improved competitiveness which would be beneficial for the sector. New competitors are emerging in the global market which would change the global sourcing dynamics.”
On the post-Rana Plaza export scenario, the report said the conclusion was that the export growth of garment products might have limited scope to be associated with the tragedy though the entrepreneurs often complained about the adverse impact on export.
“A detailed analysis on products, buyers’ strategy in sourcing orders from different markets, buyers as well as consumers’ perceptions of Bangladeshi products after the tragedy would enable us to determine the cause and effect of the changing pattern of export of apparels from Bangladesh.”
Bangladesh’s export to the European market during post-Rana Plaza period is even more inconclusive. After attaining considerable growth in both categories of products in 2013, Bangladesh’s export experienced negative growth in 2014.
However, performance of a number of major competitors, including China, India, Vietnam and Indonesia, was disquieting in the European market. Pakistan and Cambodia are found to maintain consistent positive growth both in knit and woven products during post-Rana Plaza period.
Bangladesh’s performance has been quite impressive till date with regard to implementation of various activities related to USTR (United States Trade Representative) action plan.
The USTR should take the recent developments positively and consider reinstatement of the GSP facility for Bangladeshi products in the US market in the near future if Bangladesh outdoes the present rate of achievements in terms of implementation of reforms, it added.
Published in The Financial Express
No major progress in compensation
Says CPD study on Rana Plaza tragedy
FE Report
No significant progress has yet been made in identifying missing workers, paying compensation and improving the socioeconomic conditions of the victims and their families even two years after the tragic Rana Plaza incident, a study report revealed Tuesday.
The fourth monitoring report prepared by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) also sought serious attention from the government, apparel manufacturers, retailers and other stakeholders to ensure smooth delivery of follow-up treatment to the victims and legal issues for the sake of justice in the country’s worst-ever industrial disaster that killed 1,138 people and injured hundred others.
It also suggested further attention to the activities under EU Sustainability Compact, Accord, Alliance, National Tripartite Plan of Actions to speed up restructuring and reforms of the garment sector which plays a key role in the country’s economic growth.
The report titled “Moving Beyond the Shadow of the Rana Plaza Tragedy: In Search of a Closure and Restructuring Strategy” was released at a CPD dialogue on Rana Plaza Tragedy: Two Years After at BRAC Centre Inn in the capital in the afternoon.
CPD Distinguished Fellow Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya moderated the function where Secretary of the ministry of labour and employment (MoLE) Mikhail Shiper and President of Exporters Association of Bangladesh (EAB) Abdus Salam Murshedy spoke as the chief guest and the special guest respectively.
While presenting the report that highlighted six issues like debate over number, support for Rana Plaza victims, restructure and reforms of the apparel sector and initiatives of various local and global groups, CPD Additional Research Director Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem said the debate over the total number of victims is still not over as some 159 workers have been claimed to be missing, which is currently being verified.
During the second year, no additional missing workers have been identified, he said.
Citing a telephone interview under the study, he said despite various initiatives, the socioeconomic conditions of the victims and their families are not at the same level compared to the condition before the collapse of the nine-storey building that housed five apparel units.
He said progress in reemployment of the affected workers had been made during the second year when a total of 2,122 workers were reemployed.
“Progress in 14 cases filed during the first year was rather limited as those cases are now under trial and the case filed by Rajuk is under investigation. Speedy disposal of the cases need to be ensured for the sake of justice,” he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmed, Assistant Executive Director of BILS, said it will not be possible to come to an effective conclusion on the tragedy without ensuring decent life of the victims and their families.
“And the support in any form for them should be rights-based, not charity-based and all efforts made by various quarters in this connection need to be institutionalised and well-coordinated,” he said.
EAB President and former president of BGMEA Abdus Salam Murshedy said various groups like Accord and Alliance were formed to inspect fire, structural and other safety concerns in the apparel units, which was a good thing.
“But lack of coordination among the activities of the groups caused a serious problem for the manufacturers as each group has different observations on safety issues. A uniform safety measure is required to this effect,” he said. He added that many small and medium-size factories were hit hard for not having adequate safety measures following the Rana Plaza tragedy.
Mr Mikhail Shiper said more than Tk 1.84 billion has so far been distributed among the victims and their families as compensation. Of the amount, around 1.70 billion comes from foreign sources, especially from retailers and Tk 0.21 billion from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.
They have recently managed to identify 104 missing workers out of 166, he said, adding that efforts are on to trace 62 others.
Debapriya Bhattacharya said the government should take immediate measures regarding around 800 factories, which have no affiliation with BGMEA and BKMEA, to avoid incidents like Rana Plaza collapse and Tazreen Fashions fire.
He also put emphasis on considering any fresh move for amending the existing labour law to fix compensation benchmark and other things. “We need to conclude the chapter of the tragedy in transparent way with satisfaction,” he added.
Reported by UNB
ACCORD factory inspections: Bulk of problems unaddressed
Dhaka, Apr 21 (UNB) – ACCORD, a buyers’ group which is conducting inspections at listed RMG factories, has identified 52,605 kinds of problems in these factories, said a report of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a civil society think-tank.
More than 1250 RMG factories out of their list of 1400 have now been inspected by ACCORD. The report reveals most of the RMG factories fall short in terms of common safety measures, lacking fire doors in stairwells, inadequate automatic fire alarm systems, inadequate fire separations and protected exits and lack of lateral stability in structure.
It says out of the 52,605 different kinds of problems, only 782 have so far been corrected, another 10,248 have been pending for verification and the remaining 80 percent problems still persist.
The fourth monitoring report, ‘Moving beyond the Shadow of the Rana Plaza Tragedy: In Search of the Closure and Restructuring Strategy’ was presented by CPD additional research director Khondaker G Moazzem at a dialogue on Monday.
CPD organised the dialogue on ‘Rana Plaza Tragedy: Two Years After’ at BRAC Centre Inn in the capital.
The CPD monitoring report found that about 800 RMG firms exist which are not members of any organisation such as BGMEA and BKMEA. These factories need to be internalised in the formalisation process and need to be inspected properly.
CPD senior fellow Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya questioned as the 800 factories are not members of either BGMEA and BKMEA yet, who will take responsibility if an incident like Rana Plaza tragedy takes place in these factories?
About the state of RMG factories, the report says a total of 32 factories have been closed after Rana Plaza collapse because of safety concerns and several thousands workers were being affected.
In most cases, the workers received necessary financial benefits from factory owners and other sources. However, in a number of cases, workers have not yet received their proper dues. A major concern in this regard is to ensure their reemployment in the RMG sector, the report says.
Labor and Employment secretary Mikail Shipar, assistant executive director of BILS Syed Sultan Uddin Ahammed and executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Dr Iftekharuzzaman, among others, spoke at the dialogue.