BIDA plans to inspect 10,000 more factories: Salman F Rahman

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s private sector industry and investment adviser Salman F. Rahman on Wednesday said Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) has taken a plan to inspect 10,000 more factories across the country, reports news agency BSS.

“BIDA has already inspected 5,206 factories. The authority has planned to inspect 10,000 more factories,” he said after the second meeting of the national committee formed to ‘prevent accidents in factories, mills, industrial and commercial establishments and ensure a safe working environment’ in the meeting room of the Ministry of Home Affairs at the secretariat in the city, said a press release.

The meeting also discussed the matter of converting the Directorate of Inspection of Factories and Establishments into an authority by increasing its manpower and jurisdiction, he mentioned.

He also said the government is determined to prevent accidents and ensure a safe working environment in factories, industries and commercial establishments.

Out of the total inspected factories, he mentioned, 17 factories that score less than 25 per cent of the specified criteria will be given an opportunity to improve their overall situation over the next three months.

“If a certain amount of improvement does not happen, those companies will be sealed,” he added.

He said 206 companies scoring 50 per cent of the criteria will be given an opportunity for the next six months.

The companies will also be sealed if the environment does not improve within a certain time, he added.

Besides, Salman said, all the inspected industrial establishments will be notified of their existing defects and instructed to correct them within a specified period.

At the same time, all concerned authorities, divisional commissioner, district administrator, upazila executive officer, local public representatives and all associations concerned will be informed about the inspection report and necessary instructions will be given, he said.

Salman said ‘Bangladesh National Building Code’ was enacted in 2020 and its effective implementation requires the formation of Bangladesh Building Regulatory Authority (BBRA).

He hoped that the situation will improve considerably if all the design approval and supervision work related to building construction under BBRA is completed.

In the meeting, Salman F. Rahman called upon the Ministry of Public Works to form the BBRA.

The representative of the Ministry of Public Works (additional secretary) said that an action plan will be prepared in this regard within the next month and appropriate measures will be taken to form and implement the BBRA.

Among others, home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, local government, rural department (LGRD) and cooperatives minister Tajul Islam, Dhaka South City Corporation mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Tapas, Dhaka North City Corporation mayor Md. Atiqul Islam and state minister for labor and employment Begum Mannujan Sufian welcomed the government’s initiative.