We will rehabilitate survivors: PM

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Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said the government will rehabilitate the survivors of the collapsed Rana Plaza of Savar.

“Those who were injured in the Savar accident and the families of those who were killed will be rehabilitated with the help of Savings Certificates,” said the Prime Minister on Tuesday during a meeting with the leaders of the Professionals Coordination Council at her office at noon.

She also talked about plans to employ the 1,000 workers, who survived the collapse of Rana Plaza, in the country’s leather industry. The rest would get work in the readymade garment sector, she added.

The Prime Minister also came down heavily upon the incidents of arson during various protest programmes of the opposition, saying, “They set fire to Fire Brigade vehicles. The vehicles of Fire Brigade and ambulances are not attacked even during the times of war.”

Those who survived the building collapse with injuries would be treated until they were fully healed, reiterated the Prime Minister.

The rescue workers, who were severely burned in a fire that broke out in one of the drilled tunnels while trying to rescue Shaheena Akhtar of Kushtia, would be sent abroad for better treatment.

In a teary conclusion, garment worker Shaheena could not be saved due to the fire that broke out during her rescue on Apr 28.

The Prime Minister described the participation of regular people in the rescue work as ‘unprecedented’ and said, “This made the rescue of so many people possible in a short time.”

On the ongoing trial of war criminals, she said, “The trial (of war criminals) has started. It will be completed since we started it. The people of Bangladesh must be freed from the historical shame.”

She urged all to assist the process of judging war criminals and said, “The people will have to realise their inhuman deeds.”

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18-Party Alliance defers May 2 shutdown

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia made this announcement through a statement on Tuesday. However, it 

The BNP-led 18-Party Alliance has postponed its May 2 general strike demanding arrest of the owners of the high-rise that collapsed in Savar and the five factories it housed.

did not elaborate on the reasons for deferment of the strike.

It may be noted here that the owners of the collapsed building and the RMG units, whose arrest was the main demand of the opposition, are already in police custody.

Over 380 people have been killed and nearly 1,300 remain missing since the nine-storied Rana Plaza caved in on Apr 24.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had earlier urged the opposition to call off the strike on ‘humanitarian grounds’ as rescue operation is on in the worst-ever industrial disaster in the country.

Communications Minister Obaidul Quader also called upon the opposition to withdraw its strike.

The law keepers have already detained owners of Rana Plaza and the five readymade garments it housed. Police are interrogating Sohel Rana, the building’s owner, in custody.

Left-leaning Communist Party of Bangladesh had also called a strike for the same day to press for similar demands, but later withdrew it.

Meanwhile, the High Court on Tuesday ordered authorities to confiscate all movable and immovable properties of Rana and the garment owners

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Union is the way, not outside pressure: Abed

BRAC founder Fazle Hasan Abed says garment workers should be allowed to organise union to ensure basic pay and safety standards but he strongly discourages outside pressure on the nearly $20 billion industry.

In an op-ed column -- Bangladesh Needs Strong Unions, Not Outside Pressure – that appeared in the New York Times on Monday, he warns against the consumers in the West stopping purchasing ‘Made in Bangladesh’ apparels following Bangladesh’s worst industrial disaster in Savar.

Abed terms the Savar tragedy “one of the saddest chapters since we won our independence in 1971, precisely because the tragedy could easily have been prevented” even though Bangladesh suffers disasters quite frequently.

Dwelling upon the sentiment in the West following the latest deaths, he says: “I appreciate the unease a Westerner might feel knowing that the clothes on his or her back were stitched together by people working long hours in dangerous conditions.

“It is natural that people in richer countries are now asking how they can put pressure on Bangladesh and its manufacturers to improve the country’s dismal safety record.”

He says “boycotting brands that do business in Bangladesh might only further impoverish those who most need to put food on their tables, since the foreign brands would simply take their manufacturing contracts to other countries”.

The BRAC Chairman points out that jobs in the garment industry have made social change possible in the country and the sector employs about three million women. Economic opportunities in the garment factories have allowed poor families to set long-term goals, “like educating their sons and daughters, saving and taking microloans to start new businesses, and building and maintaining more sanitary living spaces”.

He warns that Bangladesh’s remarkable gains in microfinance, living standards, cuts in maternal and early childhood mortality, gender gap abolition in primary and secondary school enrolment “will mean little if we allow tragedies like the one at Savar to continue”.

“The law must work for everyone, rich and poor, landless laborer and factory owner alike. We must not allow those who benefit from the exploitation of the vulnerable to continue to treat life so cheaply.”

The BRAC chief says Bangladesh should look within for solutions. “My country will require new political will to hold accountable those who willingly put human lives at such grave risk. It will also require the support of factory owners; civil society organizations, including my own; and the private sector, including Western buyers.”

He argues “organized power” of workers “is the only thing that can stand up to the otherwise unaccountable nexus of business owners and politicians, who are often one and the same”.

He suggests that Western buyers of Bangladeshi apparel finance better safety standards instead of putting pressure on factory owners to cut price.

“The point needs to be made in the marketplace overseas that safety improvements are not so expensive that they can be used as an excuse for raising prices to the consumer.

“And consumers who are shocked by the working conditions need to realize that a playing field where the price tag is the only standard for a purchase is not a level one when workers’ lives are at stake.”

Abed advocates prosecuting the owners “for criminal negligence” and says they cannot be trusted anymore to voluntarily do what is required.

“In a country with 100,000 factories in and near the capital… an inspection force numbering 18 people only invites unconscionable lapses on the part of unscrupulous employers. The inspection force must be increased drastically, and it must vigorously enforce safety standards.

“The government, finally, must stop neglecting worker safety issues,” which the BRAC founder believes will be extremely difficult to accomplish as long as there is an unholy web of employers and politicians colluding to avoid responsibility for criminal negligence.

He concludes by saying that the civil society is ready to work with the authorities to put things in place.

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Bangladesh gets first woman Speaker

Chaudhury, the State Minister for Women and Children Affairs, will succeed Abdul Hamid who last week became President following the death of President Md Zillur Rahman. State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury has been elected the youngest and first woman Speaker of Bangladesh.Deputy Speaker Shawkat Ali put the resolution to voice vote during Tuesday’s parliamentary session and Chaudhury was supported unanimously. In an unprecedented move, the ruling Awami League on Monday night nominated her for the post.

Women are now occupying several top posts with the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition, Deputy Leader of Parliament are women.

A lawyer by profession, Chaudhury entered Parliament for the first time as an MP from one of the reserved seats for women. She holds a PhD from Essex University in the United Kingdom.

Chaudhury’s appointment is the first of its kind from an MP elected from one of reserved seats for women to the top parliamentary post.

Now she has to relinquish her ministerial position.

The Speaker’s office in Parliament had been lying vacant since former Speaker Abdul Hamid was sworn-in as President on Apr 24.

Deputy Speaker Ali became the acting Speaker when the Speaker was made the Acting President on Mar 14.

Chaudhury, with an outstanding academic career, was born in Dhaka on October 6, 1966. Her father Rafiqullah Chaudhury was the Personal Secretary of independence leader and former Prime Minister Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Her mother Professor Naiyer Sultana was a Member of Public Service Commission and her grandfather was a judge at then East Pakistan High Court.

She passed her SSC with Humanities from the Dhaka Education Board topping the merit list in 1983 and completed HSC from the same board in 1985 securing second position in the integrated merit list of all groups.

In 1989, she came out first class first in her LLB (Honours) examination from the Dhaka University and passed LLM with distinction from the same university in 1990.

On a Commonwealth Scholarship, she did her PhD on human rights and constitutional laws – ‘Right to Life’ – from Essex University in the United Kingdom in 2000.

She enrolled at the Bar Council in 1992 as a lawyer and two years later with the High Court. In 2008, she was enrolled with the Appellate Division.

The International Affairs Secretary of the Awami League, she was elected MP from one of the parliamentary seats reserved for women on March 24, 2009.

During the army-backed caretaker government in 2007-08, she was one of the members of the lawyers’ panel which conducted the cases filed against Hasina.

Chaudhury became a member of the Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and Dhaka Bar Association in 2000 and was elected Editor of Bangladesh Bar Council Legal Division in 2003. She became a member of Bangladesh Nari Samaj (Women's Coalition) in 2007.

The ‘Women Development Policy’ was passed in Parliament during her term as a State Minister.

In 2008, she became a member of the sub-committee of Bangladesh Bar Council Legal Education and a member of the executive committee of Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs.

In 2009, she was elected as a syndicate member of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Medical University (BSMMU).

She has a son and a daughter with Syed Ishtiaque Hossain who is a pharmaceutical consultant.

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‘Rescuers ran for safety as storm hit’

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The rescue work at the Rana Plaza collapse site at Savar has resumed amid rain after a wave of seasonal storm.

   

Correspondent Selim Ahmed reported rescuers had to run for safety as the storm started around 9:35pm Saturday. The rescue work was off for 15 minutes due to this, he said.

Rescue efforts had faced a temporary halt due to rain in the noon as well.

Fire Service and Civil Defence Director Maj Mohammad Mahbub had told bdnews24.com then that the rescue operation would continue amid rain.

Meanwhile, the rescuers found four women alive on the second floor of the collapsed building around 10pm.

One of them is Fajila Khatun of Dinajpur’s Mirzapur. His brother Akter Hossain said he spoke with his sister over phone via rescuers.

Around same time, another woman was rescued from the rubble of the nine-storied building which collapsed on Wednesday morning with over 3,000 people inside.

The Meteorological Department says there is a strong possibility of Dhaka region facing a wave of storm and rain until Sunday noon.

The Bangladesh Army, which is leading the rescue operation, has declared that the operation would continue until the last alive person was rescued.

Since Wednesday, around 350 dead bodies have been recovered from the debris while 2,500 people were rescued alive.

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Unsafe units will lose membership: BGMEA

In the wake of the worst-ever disaster in the suburban township of Savar, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) on Saturday took some firm decisions to check recurrence of such ‘accidents’ in future.   

The authorities of all readymade garment factories have been asked to submit their structural design assessment and load management reports to the BGMEA and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) within a month so as to improve safety measures.

The apex organisation of the country’s export-oriented apparel business also asked the owners of all garment units to shift generators to the ground floor from other floors.

The BGMEA took the decision at an emergency meeting held at the BGMEA Bhaban in the city’s Hatirjheel area.

BGMEA Vice President SM Mannan Kochi told reporters of the decisions after the meeting. Former BGMEA President Abdus Salam Murshedy was also present at the press briefing.

“Membership of the factories concerned will be suspended if any anomaly is found in the structural design assessment and load management reports,” he said.

He said the initiative was being taken in a bid to change the negative attitude of overseas buyers and enhance safety of this industry following the collapse of Rana Plaza in Savar.

Kochi demanded that the owner of the collapsed nine-storied commercial building in Savar, those who designed the high-rise and those authorised the design be arrested immediately and brought to justice.

He also said the BGMEA and the BKMEA decided to float a fund – Disaster Relief Fund – to help the Savar building collapse victims and their families.

The member factories of the BGMEA and the BKMEA were asked to contribute minimum Tk 25,000 to the fund within a week.

On behalf of the BKMEA, its first Vice President Md Hatem handed over a cheque for Tk 10 million to BGMEA President Atiqul Islam at the meeting.

Besides, the apex trade body of the country’s apparel sector decided to float the fund to tackle such unforeseen situations in the future.

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Despite disasters, Bangladesh works for retailers

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The factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed over 300 people this week is a stark reminder of the risks in the global retail industry's search for cheap production.

But there have been few signs that safety issues and other questionable labour conditions are sending shockwaves through the major Western retailers, their shareholders or the people who buy the clothes in the United States, Europe and elsewhere.

Despite a series of accidents that have killed hundreds of people in recent months, dozens of major retailers and apparel makers continue to operate in Bangladesh.

The country ships about $15.6 billion of ready-made garments each year - about 80 percent of its total exports. Sixty percent of Bangladesh's garment exports go to Europe; the United States takes 23 percent, and Canada takes 5 percent, according to data from Bangladesh's commerce ministry and industry sources.

About 18 months before the previous big tragedy in Bangladesh - a fire in November in a textile factory that killed 112 people - shareholders at Wal-Mart Stores Inc had the opportunity to weigh in on the safety question. By a nearly 50-to-1 margin, they rejected a proposal to require suppliers to report annually on safety issues at their factories.

In arguing against the proposal, Wal-Mart's management made its reasoning clear: Having suppliers compile such reports "could ultimately lead to higher costs for Walmart and higher prices for our customers. This would not be in the best interests of Walmart's shareholders and customers and would place Walmart at a competitive disadvantage," the company said in proxy materials.

Soon after the fire, Wal-Mart and Sears Holdings Corp admitted their goods were being made at the Tazreen Fashions workshop even though they had denied that factory authorisation as a supplier.

Far from Alone

Bangladesh is hardly the only source of inexpensive clothes and cheap labour that has sparked concern about labour conditions. From Vietnam, to the American protectorate of Saipan, to the massive workshops in China, Western companies have found themselves entangled with places where worker health and safety conditions are often questioned.

Disasters such as the April 24 collapse of a nine-story factory building in Bangladesh have not changed the calculation for apparel makers and retailers. Cheaper products appeal to shoppers. And the taint, if any, appears to be manageable.

The courthouse, marketplace and stock market seem to be telling them they are right.

Shoppers such as Mohini Raichura are making decisions that justify the retailers' strategies. Raichura, a 30-year-old London charity worker, was shopping Friday at Primark, a discount retailer owned by Associated British Foods, even though she knew that some of its products were made at the factory that collapsed earlier in the week.

"I go there because it's cheap. That's awful. It really makes me a bad person," Raichura said. "But you know, I work for a charity, I'm on a limited income, and I pay rent in London —that's how I justify it."

Consumers continue to purchase products from brands like Wal-Mart's Faded Glory, found in the Tazreen rubble, and Loblaw's Joe Fresh, found in the ruins of the factory building this week.

Loblaw Cos Ltd's stock has edged up since the tragedy this week, while Wal-Mart and Sears' shares have moved higher since the Tazreen fire last November. That disaster, in which locked doors prevented workers from fleeing to safety, did not appear to have any measurable impact on sales at Wal-Mart and Sears after both acknowledged their products were made there.

The world's court systems have not provided a disincentive, either. For example, in 2005, a lawsuit was filed in California state court on behalf of factory workers in Bangladesh, China, Indonesia and other countries accusing Wal-Mart of failing to address substandard working conditions in suppliers' factories.

But the case was ultimately dismissed, and according to a search of available filings on the Thomson Reuters legal database Westlaw, there have been no US lawsuits filed against Wal-Mart or Sears on similar matters since the Tazreen fire.

Michael Silverstein, senior partner and Managing Director at Boston Consulting Group, said the attractions of places like Bangladesh outweigh the risks, and most retailers believe the risks can be managed.

"Bangladesh is a very viable source for apparel retailers. It has very low labour cost, good operational efficiency and because it produces in such large quantities, supply-chain costs are also low," Silverstein said. "Obviously safety and health conditions need to be tightly policed. Suppliers need to be rated and visited frequently."

Wal-Mart and other companies have vowed to step up their safety audits, training, and conversations with government officials. Earlier this month, Wal-Mart said it would donate $1.6 million to help start a new Bangladesh training academy.

Not Just a Problem for Low-Price Retailers

Foreign companies have long grappled with working conditions in manufacturing hubs, including China - places that have become the world's workshops because of low wages and improving transport infrastructure.

Global protests against Apple Inc swelled after reports spread in 2010 about suicides at plants operated by Foxconn, Apple's chief supplier in China. The world's most valuable technology company was forced to tackle the issue head-on. Apple publicised an internal audit that for the first time spotlighted all its manufacturing partners. It set up a workplace-improvement program, invited auditors like the Fair Labor Association to review it, and began monitoring its several hundred contract manufacturers more closely. Foxconn also significantly boosted wages at plants making Apple products.

In the apparel industry, Nike Inc began making changes to its sourcing and worker policies after there were charges of minimum wage violation and child labour practices in the mid-1990s. In 2005, the company disclosed its factory list, and then broadened that to cover 800 factories worldwide that manufacture all Nike brands.

But Nike and Apple make higher-priced brand name products than many apparel retailers. And protests such as the ones they have faced have mostly failed to materialise when it comes to retailers who sell cheaper apparel products.

For companies such as Wal-Mart, who use thousands of suppliers, keeping an eye on the supply pipeline is proving difficult. After the Rana Plaza building collapsed Wednesday, it took Wal-Mart more than a day to confirm that its goods were not being made at the building that collapsed. And in the Tazreen Fashions fire, Wal-Mart learned after the fact that a supplier was having garments made there without Wal-Mart's approval.

Companies Urged Not to Pull Out

Western activists criticise retailers and apparel companies for not doing more to force improvements in a country where working conditions are poor and government oversight is lax.

"The bottom line is that worker safety laws are hardly enforced," said Iftekhar Zaman, the Executive Director of global anti-corruption group Transparency International in Bangladesh. The retailers and apparel makers cannot be "perceived helpless" when such incidences occur.

The Western companies should not pull out of Bangladesh and other low-cost countries because impoverished workers would pay the price, Zaman noted. Instead, they need to push for changes from within.

"Better ways must be found such as the importing companies to be more closely involved in preventive measures, like ensuring strict compliance with safety standards as part of their business deal," Zaman said.

Canadian discount retailer Loblaw, whose Joe Fresh clothing was being made at the building that collapsed on Wednesday, said that the latest disaster led it to realise that audits and other workplace actions can overlook shoddy building construction and other environmental problems. In a statement, the company said it will work with other retailers and government bodies to address factory standards in Bangladesh.

Two years ago, 29 people were killed and 100 injured in a fire at a Bangladesh factory making clothes for Gap Inc, which owns Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy. In response, the company last year implemented new safety standards in Bangladesh, including hiring a fire safety inspector, and loaning vendors up to $20 million for safety improvements.

Despite such measures, the pressure for low prices will persist.

"The fundamental value tension, we all know, is that consumers want quality at a low price and businesses cater to that," said Harlan Loeb, who runs a crisis management team at the public relations firm Edelman, which as of Thursday was not advising anyone about the building's collapse.

Companies often resist efforts to force a deeper discussion about the tradeoffs.

Before Wal-Mart invited shareholders to this year's annual meeting, to take place June 7, the board of directors rebuffed another effort to force a shareholder vote on workplace safety issues.

According to documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, a shareholder presented a proposal to require the company to report on its progress for assessing risks to human rights in its operations and supply chain. But Wal-Mart said the proposal was so similar to the one that failed in 2011, and that it already addresses the request through its standards for suppliers, that it did not merit reconsideration. The SEC approved its decision to reject the request for a shareholder vote.

Bargain-hunting shoppers continue to have mixed feelings.

"I was thinking about it when I was queuing up to pay," said Philomina Wood, 70, as she left the Primark store in London. "It wouldn't have hurt if there had been something inside to say people had died. It's sad that life goes on and there's no recognition at all."

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Cops nab another Savar factory owner

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Detective Branch of Police arrested Aminul Islam, owner of Phantom Apparels, one of the readymade garments factories located in the now-collapsed Rana Plaza at Savar, on Saturday night from Dhaka.

  

Islam, also Chairman of Phantom Tac Bangladesh Ltd, was arrested from Ramna area around 10:30pm, DMP Deputy Commissioner (Media) Masudur Rahman told bdnews24.com.

Earlier, Mahmudur Rahman Tapash and Bazlul Samad Adnan, owners of New Weave Bottoms and New Weave Style, were taken into custody upon their surrender on Friday night, and Executive Engineer of the Savar municipality Md Imtemam Hossain and Assistant Engineer Md Alam Mia were arrested on Saturday morning.

A Dhaka court earlier in the day placed the two garments owners on six-day police remand each in two cases and the engineers to four days’ remand each in two other cases.

Police and RAJUK had filed the two cases at the Savar Police Station on Wednesday night charging ill-constructed building owner Sohel Rana and the owners of the five garment factories located in the Rana Plaza for the loss of lives and property.

Since the collapse on Wednesday morning, over 350 dead bodies have been recovered and 2,500 people rescued alive from the debris of the nine-storied building.

Many survivors have alleged that the owners of their factories forced them to go to work that morning much against their will since they had seen the cracks the building had developed on Tuesday.

Sohel Rana, a Senior Joint Convenor of Awami League’s youth front Juba League’s Savar municipality unit, has been on the run since the collapse of the massive structure.

The cases were filed on charges of structural faults and use of substandard and unspecified building materials in the construction of the building, and for the loss of lives and property.

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31 people rescued 3 days after collapse

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Rescuers saved 31 more lives on Saturday - three days after the collapse of Rana Plaza at Savar on Dhaka’s outskirts.

The death toll reached 355 by Saturday night, and almost a thousand people were still missing, officials said at the temporary information centre set up on the Adhar Chandra High School premises.

Rescue efforts continued amidst rain at noon. Again, around 9:35pm, it halted for a while and then resumed as a wave of seasonal storm and rain lashed the area.

“Rain can’t stop our work,” Fire Service Director Major Mohammad Mahbub, one of the rescuers, had told bdnews24.com at noon.

However, those taking part in the rescue said they would need tarpaulin and other relevant materials to carry on their work in case it rained heavily again.

Relatives of the deceased also claimed that they faced lots of trouble while receiving bodies at the school grounds as there was not sufficient tarpaulin to protect the bodies from the rain.

The Meteorological Department has predicted rain and thundershowers accompanied by gusty or squally winds in Dhaka region in the next 24 hours.

Meanwhile, with the arrest of a third garment factory owner on Saturday night, the number of the RMG unit owners in police custody has reached three, apart from two engineers of the Savar municipality arrested in the morning in connection with the tragedy. The law enforcers were given remand to question four of them earlier in the day.

However, owner of the ill-fated building Sohel Rana, a leader of Awami League’s youth front Juba League, continues to evade arrest.

The main opposition BNP claimed the government helped him escape, but State Minister for Home Shamsul Hoque Tuku dismissed the charge saying the law enforcers were trying to arrest him.

Rana Plaza, a nine-storey building located near Savar’s Bus Stand area, collapsed on Wednesday morning. Locals had immediately initiated search for victims and were soon joined by the Fire Service and Civil Defence and Bangladesh Army personnel. The majority of the victims are readymade garment workers, who were forced into work by the factory owners that day despite a safety hazard alert sounded by the Industrial Police the previous day.

The Fire Service, Army, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), police and RAB personnel, along with the regular volunteers, are jointly conducting the rescue operation at the building collapse site.

An information centre has been set up in front of the site to provide latest update on the search operation.

The other centre is at the Adhar Chandra High School, adjacent to the Enam Medical College Hospital, where most of the injured are receiving treatment since Wednesday.

At least 348 dead bodies were identified and handed over to relatives until Saturday night.

The dead are being kept in the school grounds, while those injured being rushed to various hospitals.

Sub-Inspector Saiful Islam, who was on duty at the Adhar Chandra High School centre on Saturday night, said 1,050 people were still missing.

Unidentified bodies are being sent to the morgues of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) and Sir Salimullah Medical College, also known as Mitford Hospital. Currently, 37 bodies are kept at DMCH and six at Mitford for identification.

The nine-storied building came crushing down with approximately 3,000 people inside it.

Meanwhile, the rescuers have decided not to call off their mission as planned before, as they are hopeful of finding more survivors trapped under the debris.

The rescuers were likely to use heavy equipment for removal of slabs and heavy steel from the spot since Saturday morning. But their plan changed as they found some survivors.

The Bangladesh Army, which is leading the rescue operation, has declared that the operation would continue until the last alive person was rescued.

However, General Officer Commanding (GOC) Major General Chowdhury Hasan Suhrawardy of the 9th Infantry Division, which is leading the rescue operation, on Saturday afternoon told reporters, “We are not going for any massive scale salvage attempt.”

On Friday, rescuers managed to dig out 118 victims from the debris of the building which was erected over 56 decimals of land.

Rescue workers dug several tunnels to pull out the possible survivors trapped under the debris of the building using drilling machines as use of heavy machines could trigger further collapse.

However, heavy equipment have been brought to the site. A huge hydraulic crane reached the spot at around 2pm Saturday.

“Each life matters to us. We are carefully conducting the operation to rescue everyone trapped in the wreckage alive,” ISPR Director Shahinur Islam told reporters in the afternoon.

He said they have put seven special cameras through holes to scan those parts of the debris which are yet to be explored. “We have dug 25 such holes,” he added.

Another rescuer, Brigadier General Sayeed Masud said they could still see signs of life inside the wreckage.

He said heavy equipment would be used only after consulting the relatives and common people engaged in the rescue operation.

Maj Gen Suhrawardy said the rescue drive was very risky. “The rescuers are putting their lives to risk,” he said.

He also rejected the possibility of taking foreign assistance in the rescue operation. “We are capable enough. We don’t need foreign assistance.

Relatives of the missing were still assembled at the site and going running to find their loved ones.

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BNP sees govt plot to save Savar accused

Mosharraf Hossain

Dhaka, Apr 27: BNP, on Saturday, accused the government of plotting to help Sohel Rana, owner of the collapsed building at Savar, to flee the country. “The government is hatching a plan to save Rana. Awami League is trying to shift the people’s attention on this, by holding the opposition party responsible for the tragedy that claimed over 300 lives,” BNP standing committee member Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain said.

He was addressing a programme to demand the immediate release of detained BNP leaders. The programme was organised by Jehad Parishad, at the National Press Club.
He warned the government against shifting the blame on the opposition. “Instead, the ruling Awami League must act immediately to book the people responsible for the tragedy immediately,” he added.
Mosharraf alleged that Rana was an influential leader of the ruling party’s youth front, in the area, and, therefore, his business establishment was not declared vulnerable, despite having a cracked wall. “As a result of the government’s negligence, poor and innocent ready made garments (RMG) workers were killed,” he said.
The BNP leader said the arrest of Rana’s relatives was just eyewash. “The ruling Awami League is staging a drama in the name of arrests,” he alleged.
After the tragedy, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had assured Parliament that Rana was not involved with her party’s youth front. Besides, home minister MK Alamgir had held BNP responsible for the tragedy.
“The government is deflecting the blame in another direction, by cooking up different stories,” he alleged.
Reiterating the opposition’s demand for a caretaker government (CG), to monitor the election, the BNP leader said the government’s stubbornness on the issue had triggered the present political crisis. “The country’s political arena will not be calmed till the government restored the CG provision in the Constitution. We urge the Awami League government to do so for the sake of holding the next general elections in a free and fair manner,” he added.
In a separate rally in front of BNP’s Naya Paltan central office, Mosharraf accused the government of trying to brush the Savar tragedy under the carpet, like the BDR carnage.
“Sheikh Hasina and her ministers are engaged in a blame game, with a view to conceal the real facts in the Savar tragedy. The government had adopted a similar strategy during the BDR carnage at Pilkhana, in 2009,” he said.
Referring to statements by victims, he said the RMG workers were forced to take part in work on Wednesday, despite the appearance of a crack on the wall of Rana Plaza. “Who forced them inside, and for what purpose? The Premier must answer these questions before the nation,” he said.
The rally was organised to demand the release of detained BNP leaders, holding of the next general election under a non-party CG oversight, and punishment for those responsible for the Savar tragedy.
The BNP leader alleged the government’s wrongdoing has destroyed the country’s political stability. “The situation became worse after the CG provision was expunged from the Constitution. The Awami League will be held responsible if the country plunges into a fresh crisis over the CG issue,” he added.
BNP leaders Moudud Ahmed, Shamsuzzaman Dudu and Barkat Ullah Bulu were among those who spoke at the rally. BNP vice-chairman Sadeque Hossain Khoka chaired the rally.
In a separate programme, BNP leader MK Anwar accused the PM of sedition for her “false statements” in Parliament, by denying Rana’s links with her party.
“Parliament is a holy place for a nation. But, the holiness of our Parliament has been tarnished as our Premier has made untruthful statements. This is blatantly seditious,” he said.
Anwar was addressing a programme organised by Rajshahi University Nationalist Student Association, at Bhasani auditorium in the city.
The BNP leader said the media had exposed Rana’s links with Awami League leaders, even as the PM continued to deny this. “Awami League was plotting to save Rana by hiding him in a safe place under the government’s management,” he added.
Anwar criticised the government for not extending necessary equipment to accelerate the salvage operations at the site of the collapsed Rana Plaza, and said it was the government’s failure as it did nothing to protect the lives of poor RMG workers.

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18-Party calls hartal on May 2 over Savar tragedy

DHAKA: The BNP-led 18-party alliance on Saturday night called a countrywide daylong hartal on May 2 to register its protest against Savar tragedy.

BNP standing committee member made the announcement of the shutdown after two meetings of BNP standing committee members and top leaders of the 18-party opposition alliance at the BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office.

He said the hartal is also meant for pressing the government to immediately arrest those responsible for Rana Plaza tragedy in Savar, restoration of the caretaker government system, the release of top BNP leaders, protesting repression and oppression of the opposition leaders and activists and forcing the “failed, incompetent regime” to quit.

Rana Plaza, an eight-storey complex, collapsed on Wednesday morning leaving over 355 people killed and more than a thousand injured.  

Moudud said, “The government’s massive failures and incompetence have been exposed in its handling of the disastrous Savar incident that caused huge loss of lives. We’re announcing our programmes, including hartal in protest against it.”

The 18-party will also stage a rally in the capital on May 4 on the same grounds. BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia will address the rally as the chief guest.

Besides, the alliance will observe mourning day on April 30 to protest the Savar building collapse. They will also bring out processions with black flags across the country on the same day.

Moudud said the 18-party alliance expressed deep shock over the deaths in the incident and conveyed sympathy to those injured.

He said the alliance also demanded that the government give Tk 20 lakh to the family members of each of those killed and injured in the building crash.

Terming the Savar tragedy a massive killing, the alliance held local ruling party MP Murad Jong and building owner and Jubo League leader Sohel Rana responsible for the incident, Moudud said. 

“We think Rana had been able to flee the scene with the help of Murad Jong. We demand their immediate arrest and highest punishment.

The alliance also condemned the remarks of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister over the incident. “The 18-party demands removal of the Home Minister from the Cabinet for his imprudent comments,” the former law minister told reporters.

Khaleda Zia first sat with the BNP standing committee members and then with the top leaders of the BNP-led 18-party alliance.

She discussed with the party leaders and alliance partners the country’s overall political situation, the Savar tragedy, the recent killing of opposition leaders and activists across the country and torture and repression on them, the arrest of top BNP leaders and the next national election, and finalised the fresh action programme.

BNP standing committee members Dr RA Gani, Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Barrister Moudud Ahmed, Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman, MK Anwar, Barrister Jamiruddin Sircar, ASM Hannan Shah, Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan, and Begum Sarwari Rahman attended the meeting held with Khaleda Zia in the chair.

LDP chief Colonel (retd) Oli Ahmed, Jamaat central leaders Abdul Halim, BJP chairman Andalib Rahman Partha, IOJ chairman Abdul Latif Nezami, Jagpa president Shafiul Alam Prodhan, NPP president Shawkat Hossain Nilu, Kalyan Party Chairman Maj Gen (retd) Syed Muhammad Ibrahim, and Labour Party president Mustafizur Rahman Iran were, among others, present at the meeting of the alliance, also held with Khaleda in the chair.

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Irate RMG workers clash in Dhaka, Chittagong

DHAKA, APR 27: Thousands of irate readymade garments (RMG) workers went berserk and clashed with law enforcement personnel in the capital, Savar, and in the port city of Chittagong, on Saturday.
Five people sustained bullet injuries and some 20 others were wounded, when police fired shots on agitating garment workers, near Rana Plaza at Savar, in the morning.

The police said the trouble started at Bank Town near Rana Plaza around 9.30am, when a group of RMG workers, angered by the slow rescue operations in the building that had collapsed, tried to break through the police cordon. Later, the law enforcement personnel fired some 50 rounds of rubber bullets and lobbed 20 teargas canisters to disperse them, injuring the five.
Four of those injured—Shahid, Murad, Yakub Ali and Johnny—were admitted to Enam Medical College and Hospital, in critical condition. Another was rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. The fifth injured person has not been identified yet.
Security on the Rana Plaza compound has been beefed up following the incident, police said.
Unruly workers also blocked Mirpur Road for two hours in the morning, but were dispersed later.
In Chittagong, garment workers staged a demonstration protesting against the collapse of Rana Plaza in Savar, and demanding the death penalty for the owner of the building.
During the demonstration, the garment workers set ablaze three covered vans and blockaded the city’s Airport Road for hours. They also brought out processions from different industrial areas of the city, in protest against the tragic incident and demanded safe working places.
Several hundred workers brought out a procession from the city’s Oxygen area, at about 9 am, to protest against the tragedy. At one stage, some angry workers set fire to three covered vans belonging to Abul Khair group near Chittagong Cantonment Public School and College. Fire brigade men rushed to the spot and succeeded in dousing the fire, before the vehicles were completely burnt.
Additional law enforcement agency members rushed to the area and brought the situation under control.
Besides, hundreds of workers took to the streets in the city’s Chittagong and Karnaphuli EPZ areas in the morning, and started converging on the Chittagong EPZ intersection. At one stage, the garments workers put up barricades, thereby disrupting vehicular movement on the city’s Airport Road.
High-ranking police officials rushed to the EPZ intersection and persuaded the irate workers to withdraw the road barricades at 11 am.
The garments workers also brought out protest processions from the city’s Kalurghat BSCIC industrial area, Agrabad, Terry Bazaar, Jamal Khan, Sadorghat and Olonkar areas.
On the other hand, Industrial Police (IP) have taken extensive preventive measures to check any sort of unrest in the readymade garments (RMG) sector in Chittagong, as a fallout of the Rana Plaza tragedy.

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Rescue operations to continue

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Rescue operations at Savar would not be called off immediately as the authorities engaged in the operation are not yet giving up hope of finding more survivors from the wreckage of a nine-storey building that caved in on Wednesday, killing over 300 people.

The hope was renewed after 18 people were rescued from the debris on Saturday. Many more are expected to be trapped under the wreckage.

Maj Gen Chowdhury Hasan Suhrawardi of the 9th Infantry Division, that heads the rescue operations, told journalists about their decision to continue.

Earlier, it was decided that the operation would be called off after 72 hours of the incident. But rescue of survivors on Saturday forced the authorities to continue with the search operations.

He said people were still alive inside the debris. “We want to ensure that everyone trapped inside are rescued and therefore we will not immediately use any heavy machinery to clear the debris as it might cause further collapse and endanger the lives of those survivors,” he said.

On Thursday government officials had said heavy machineries would be used to clear the rubbles from Saturday.

Suhrawardi said he did not want to risk the lives of those trapped by using heavy equipment.

Asked whether any foreign assistance had been sought, he said the team engaged in the operation was capable enough to handle the situation.

The nine-storey building was allegedly constructed violating building norms. It housed five garments factories among others. Locals said around 3,500 people, mostly women, were in the building when it collapsed.

Police have already detained two owners of the factories and two engineers of Savar municipality for the accident.

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