Has Bangladesh, and other countries too, learned any lessons? Perhaps, the answer remains the same — no.
JUBAIL, SAUDI ARABIA: It has been a year since death and misery invaded Rana Plaza in Dhaka, Bangladesh, claiming over 1,100 lives and injuring about 2,500 — many of whom are now disabled forever. Obviously, no lessons were learned from the earlier disaster when a fire at Tazreen factory, on the outskirts of Dhaka, killed 112 workers. But the question is: has Bangladesh, and other countries too, learned any lessons? Perhaps, the answer remains the same — no.
Maybe some changes have taken place on paper — amendments to labour laws, increasing workers’ wages, more thorough factory inspections; but in reality don’t expect much to have changed on ground. Do we see any pressure from the Western fashion supply chains and retailers on Bangladeshi garment industry to improve the working conditions? They were even unable to meet the pledges for Rana Plaza Trust Fund. Beyond any doubt, these supply chains have the power to bring about changes in the working conditions of Bangladeshi workers, but that would mean a slight cut in the profit to be made from costly garments. But, leaving aside the suppliers, where is the government? What role has it played in improving the working conditions, enforcing factory inspections and monitoring to follow safety rules or moving garment factories out of congested urban areas?
Sadly, such inaction is not limited to Bangladesh alone. In Pakistan, 257 workers lost their lives in fires in a garment factory in Karachi and a shoemaking factory in Lahore in a single night in 2012. Action taken: judicial commission, inquiry report, files and dust till it’s time for another judicial inquiry. That’s it.
Masood Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, April 27th, 2014.
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