The residents of the Dhaka North City Corporation, a significant number
\nof whom are garment worker, have elected a mayor who is a past president of
\nthe Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
\nBoth the garment factory workers and owners had joined hands to get ‘their
\nown man’ elected as head of the city council, who promised to help improve
\nthe lives of poor workers living in the city.<\/p>\n
In his election manifesto, Mr Annisul Huq, owner of the Mohammadi Group,
\none of Bangladesh’s leading garments manufacturers, has pledged to set up
\nlow-cost residences for workers of garment factories and other industrial
\nunits.<\/p>\n
Mr Huq’s garment units presently have over 8,000 workers and the company
\nnow produces over 500,000 pieces of woven garments and 250,000 pieces of
\nsweaters a month. His customers include many world renowned brands like
\nH&M, C&A, Zara, Esprit, Sears, Wal-Mart and Target. The overly crowded city
\nof Dhaka is home to two million garment workers, who contribute directly
\nto earning nearly 80 percent of foreign currency for Bangladesh. <\/p>\n
Mr Huq served the BGMEA in different capacities over a decade and is
\nknown as a very dynamic person and change-maker. He was also president of
\nthe country’s apex trade body, the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of
\nCommerce and Industries (FBCCI). Bangladesh is the second largest garment
\nmanufacturer in the world after China and exports good worth around 24
\nbillion US dollars. It has set the target to raise its garment export value
\nto 50 billion US dollars by 2021 when the country celebrates the golden
\njubilee of its independence. The sector currently employs 3.5 million
\nworkers of whom 80 percent are women.<\/p>\n
Jewel Mia, a garment factory worker in the city’s Badda area, told
\nFashionUnited that Mr Huq has been involved in the trade for many years. He
\nknows the agony of low paid workers and has tried to resolve some of the
\nissues when he was serving the BGMEA as president and in many other
\ncapacities. “We spend almost half of our monthly wages on accommodation.
\nSo we struggle to cope with increased living costs as we get a poor salary.
\nThe new mayor has pledged low-cost accommodation for us. That’s why we
\ncampaigned and voted him,” said Jewel Mia.<\/p>\n
Another garment worker, Arifur Rahman of the city’s Gulshan area, said
\nthat Dhaka was an overcrowded city with everyday newcomers taking refuge
\nhere from the countryside. Many of these people also join garment factories
\nto find a livelihood. “We are hopeful that Mr Huq will be able to arrange
\nlow-cost accommodation for us and help us newcomers to survive,” he said,
\nadding that none of the former mayors from other sectors did anything for
\ngarment workers in the past.<\/p>\n
Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, former president of the BGMEA, told
\nFashionUnited over the phone that the country’s business community extended
\n‘whole-hearted support to Mr Huq for his election’ since he is a ‘self-made
\nman with a clean image’. “I think, as a former president of BGMEA and
\nFBCCI, he will be able to significantly contribute to the garment sector as
\nwell as for the society,” he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Mohiuddin said the BGMEA is building a low-cost dormitory for garment
\nworkers in collaboration with the Chittagong Development Authority, another
\ncity council in the country’s commercial capital. “We will also build such
\nlow-cost accommodation for garment workers in Dhaka with the help of Mr
\nHuq,” he said. “We will also appeal to the newly elected mayor to arrange
\nfor a subsidised transportation system for garment workers.”<\/p>\n
Siddiqur Rahman, former vice president of the BGMEA, said: “It’s a good
\nnews for us that we got a new mayor from our own sector. After serving our
\nsector, he has now got a big platform to serve the city dwellers. I think
\nhe will also contribute to help further improve the sector’s
\nconditions.”<\/p>\n
By: Syful Islam, Dhaka<\/p>\n<\/p>\n