The lingering issue of relocation of tanneries from Hazaribagh to Savar seems to have come to an end after the Bangladesh Government reportedly turned down a request from the tannery owners to extend the deadline further, recently. The Ministry of Industries not only turned down the tanners’ request, it has also asked them to immediately shift their establishments to the newly-built Savar Leather Industrial Estate.
Also Read – Hazaribagh tannery workers looking at bleak future as fear of losing jobs looms large
“All the decisions taken earlier by the Government relating to relocation of tanneries from Hazaribagh to Savar will be enforced. We want the tanners to relocate their units without delay. We would not tolerate laxity in this connection,” said Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Industries Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, adding, “The Government will not change its previous decisions on relocation of tanneries from Hazaribagh to Savar.”
This the Senior Secretary said after a meeting with the leaders of tanners’ associations, Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA) and Bangladesh Finished Leather Goods and Footwear Exporters Association (BFLGFEA), pertaining to extension of the earlier deadline as set by the Government.
Also Read – Bangladesh govt deploys police force as tanneries defy relocation deadline
Stating that environmentalists and the people of the country as a whole want early relocation of leather units from Hazaribagh, Bhuiyan called upon the tanners to relocate their units to Savar in order to retain their businesses and regain the country’s image.
It may be mentioned here that after the deadline for tanneries to relocate from Hazaribagh to the Savar failed to evoke satisfactory response from the tannery owners, the Government pressed the police force into action in Hazaribagh to effectively enforce prohibitory orders on entry of rawhide into the area that has evoked strong reactions from the workers involved in the decades-old industry, with many of them claiming that the Government has spared little thought for them while attempting to relocate the tanneries.
