Safety problems found in 19 garment factories
The North American-led Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, which includes Hudson’s Bay Company and Canadian Tire, says it has now shut down or partially closed 19 factories in the country due to safety concerns.
The Alliance, which represents 27 big brands operating in Bangladesh, was formed after the devastating Rana Plaza factory disaster, which killed nearly 1,129 people on April 24, 2013, and injured thousands more.
It began an inspection program in the 600 garment factories in which the big brands operate, looking for structural or electrical defects and fire safety concerns. The results of the inspection reports are released on the Alliance’s website.
![]()
Remittance falls by 25pc in October
The inward flow of remittances fell by nearly 25 per cent in October over the previous month’s mark, in a bit ebb tide after a steady surge.
Official figures show the downturn came after a steady growth in the overall remittance inflow that took the total over US$5.0 billion in the first four months of this fiscal.
“The inflow of remittance is still at a satisfactory level despite downturn in the month of October,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE.
Deal signed for Padma bridge consultancy
The government yesterday entered a Tk 383.15 crore deal with a joint venture of six companies for the supervision consultancy job of the Padma bridge project.
Under the four-year deal, the joint venture, led by Korean Expressway Corporation, will supervise the construction of the main bridge and river training works.
Shafiqul Islam, project director of the Padma bridge project, and Cho Nam-Min, team leader of the joint venture, signed the agreement at the Setu Bhaban. Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, Korean Ambassador in Dhaka Lee Yun-young and the chairman of the technical evaluation committee were present, reports the Daily Star.
Ship-breakers left out of insurance cover
Workers in the ship-breaking industry are still left out of group-insurance coverage, despite the fact that some fatal accidents have occurred in recent times.
Absence of proper government inspections is mainly attributed to leaving thousands of people working at the ship-breaking yards out of risk coverage.
Bangladesh Ship Breakers Association (BSBA) data show presently more than 179 companies are directly doing business with more than 0.1 million people engaged in work.
Sector-insiders said there is still no clea...
Sector-insiders said there is still no clea...
‘Char Dwellers’ in search of higher ground
Families who live on ‘chars’ – river islands formed from sedimentation – are extremely vulnerable to natural disasters. This family wades through floodwaters left behind after heavy rains in August caused major rivers to burst their banks in northern Bangladesh.
Jahanara Begum, a 35-year-old housewife, is surrounded by thatched-roof homes, all of which are partially submerged by floodwater.
Heavy rains throughout the monsoon months, beginning in August, left thousands of people in northern Bangladesh homeless or in dire straits as the mighty Brahmaputra, Dharla and Teesta rivers burst their banks, spilling out over the countryside.
Spending on infrastructure falls on increased debt
The country’s public spending in physical and socio-economic infrastructure has come down substantially on jump in per capita debt, share of debt in GDP and debt service payment as well.
These are also escalating intergenerational debt burden in the future. The domestic debt might reach Tk. 260,498.44 crore and Tk 318,953.08 crore in FY15 and FY16 respectively, which was Tk 202,044 crore in FY14.
The 
(UO), an independent multidisciplinary think-tank, in its October issue of Bangladesh Economic Update 2014, rev...
(UO), an independent multidisciplinary think-tank, in its October issue of Bangladesh Economic Update 2014, rev...
