Bangladesh garment factories run into fire risks as temperatures soar

Category: GARMENTS

Country: India

Region: Asia

The garment industry contributes about 10 percent to Bangladesh’s GDP and employs more than 4 million people. It also accounts for more than 80 percent of the country’s exports

APRIL 18, 2023
01:56 PM IST
Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s garment factories, a key source of foreign exchange for the nation, face the heightened risk of fires as summer temperatures soar, an industry lobby group warned.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, the main industry body in the world’s No 2 exporter after China, issued 11 instructions to its 4,500 members over the weekend. These include powering off all machinery at night, including lights, fans, electric irons and boilers. Factories were asked to keep the entry and exits free for movement and ensure all gates and passages are open during working hours.

“As garment factories use machinery and electric tools, there are risks of fire. Cautionary measures can avert disasters and save lives,” the association’s president Faruque Hassan said in a letter. The body also called for factory owners to establish security cameras on the premises to prevent any act of sabotage.

The warning came after fires engulfed thousands of shops at two markets in the capital Dhaka over the last two weeks. A severe heat wave, with temperatures touching 42 degrees Celsius, is sweeping parts of Bangladesh and is likely to continue, according to the Met Office.

Similar higher-than-usual summer temperatures are also forecast across many parts of neighboring India through June.

The garment industry contributes about 10 percent to Bangladesh’s GDP and employs more than 4 million people. It also accounts for more than 80 percent of the country’s exports and supplies products to global chains, including H&M, Adidas, Wal-Mart Inc and GAP.

The warning comes as high commodity costs, stoked by Russia’s war in Ukraine, has increased Bangladesh’s import bill and widened its trade deficit. This in turn has weakened the local currency and hurt its foreign exchange reserves.

The market fires prompted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to order an investigation into whether the main opposition group, Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and its Islamist ally were behind the incidents.

The BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir blamed the government and alleged it was using the incidents to “divert people’s attention from Bangladesh’s real problems,” such as the soaring cost of living.

FIRST PUBLISHED: APR 18, 2023 01:56 PM @ moneycontrol.com