GM Quader blames lack of accountability for recurring factory fires
Jatiya Party chairman GM Quader on Sunday alleged that lack of monitoring and accountability of the authorities concerned is to blame for death of workers, reports UNB.
"Even in the 50 years of independence, the lives of the factory workers are not safe in this country. Every year many workers die in factory fires," he said in a statement.
The JaPa chief said many buildings are not constructed in accordance with the building code while the factories are not built maintaining the specific policies.
"The factories don't have the necessary equipment to prevent fires. There's no monitoring and minimum accountability of those responsible. So, the workers can't save their lives when any factory catches fire," he observed.
GM Quader, also the deputy opposition leader in parliament, said an investigation committee is formed after each fire incident and the report also contains some recommendations.
"Sometimes people know about it (report), sometimes it remains a secret. The recommendations are hardly implemented. In most cases, those responsible (for the fire incidents) get out through the loopholes of the law. So, the fire incidents and the processions of death are not stopping," he alleged.
Referring to the data of the fire service and civil defence, the JaPa chairman said 2,317 people were killed and 12,374 others injured in fire incidents across the country in the last 15 years.
"A large part of them are working-class people," GM Quader added.
He recalled that 117 garment workers at the Tazreen Fashion garment factory at Ashulia were burnt to death and more than 200 others injured in the deadliest fire in the country's history on 24 November, 2012.
"The deaths of bread-earners in each fire incident causes a humanitarian catastrophe in their poverty-stricken families," Quader said.
The JaPa leader said the government must take strong steps right now to reduce fire incidents and save the lives of workers.