RANA PLAZA COLLAPSE ‘Bangladesh yet to recover image’

Bangladesh needs to continue its effort to improve in the garment and textile sector as the country is still facing an image crisis globally, German ambassador Thomas Prinz said Thursday. ‘The image crisis has not yet been overcome…They need to go on with the progress and at the same time make the progress visible,’ the German diplomat told a function organised at the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralyzed in Mirpur. On the eve of the second anniversary of Rana Plaza building collapse in 2013, the CRP organised the function titled ‘Rehabilitation of Rana Plaza Survivors: From despair to hope.’ Addressing the function as chief guest, Thomas Prinz said his government was assisting Bangladesh to improve the condition of the garment and textile sector.

He said the day is not only commemorated in Dhaka but elsewhere in the world as well, including in Germany. A 24-year-old worker, Rehana Khatun, who was employed with one of the five factories of the collapsed building, told the function that she was still scared of any factory building and changed her profession because of the trauma she has been suffering from. A number of amputated and critically injured workers of the factory shared their stories of trauma and recovery over the last two years at the function. On April 24, the Rana Plaza building, housing five apparel factories, collapsed, leaving 1,137 dead and several hundred injured. The International Committee of the Red Cross’s head of delegation, Christine Cipolla, said many families are still searching for their beloved ones. The CRP’s found and coordinator Valerie Ann Taylor said her cook Delwar is still looking for his wife who joined one of the factories just two weeks before the deadly collapse.

CRP’s rehabilitation official Monjurul Karim said the amputated and injured workers were so traumatised that they thought they would never be employed again. But, he said, 377 survivors already set up their new business and few of them have new jobs. Jochen Weikert, the German development agency GIZ’s programme coordinator for the promotion of the social and environmental standards in the industry said ‘we have to speak up for the people who are alive.’ Labour ministry’s joint secretary Khondaker Mostan Hossain also spoke on the occasion. Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association’s vice president (finance) Reaz Bin Mahmood highlighted what the employers association had been doing for treatment, employment and rehabilitation of the injured, survivors and the families of the deceased. In reply to a query, the CRP’s executive director Shafiq-Ul-Islam said the centre had received over Tk four crore donation from different sources, including from individuals, and already spent the entire amount but Tk five lakh for the treatment, rehabilitation and social integration of the victims.

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