Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said the government is examining whether the ongoing unrest in the ready-made garment sector is the ill- motive of a vested quarter to get financial benefit from the government.

The premier said this in reply of a query of Independent MP Fazlul Azim in the House on ensuring security and forming industrial police for the foreign currency earned sector. Hasina, also the Awami League chief, question about the mastermind who is behind creating destabilisation in the sector. Hasina also said the people who oppose the move to connect with the Asian highway only fear of India's getting transit through Bangladesh, without considering the country's own interests.

"The fear is nothing, but a bogus boo. We are not afraid of bogus boo and will not keep our doors closed," she said during the question-answer session in the parliament. "We don't believe that India will grab everything once Bangladesh is connected with the highway," she said allaying some people's fear that India will be given transit once the Asian highway's entry and exit points to Bangladeshi meet India.

She said those who do not believe in sovereignty of the country and are engaged in conspiracy to compromise national interests are suffering from such fear of bogus boo. "Why are they so afraid of being connected with the Asian highway? We are not worried about the transit. We liberated the country and we know how to protect country's sovereignty and independence," "Bangladesh will be detached from rest of the world if it is not connected with the Asian highway. We don't want to be detached," the premier said. She further said the socio-economic situation of the country would be improved if it is connected with the Asian highway.

-Daily Star

Hasina promises inquiry into BGMEA scandal

bdnews: Prime minister Sheikh Hasina has promised to investigate controversy surrounding BGMEA, after the trade body demanded a huge incentive package in the face of global recession and claimed inability to pay workers wages and bonuses ahead of Eid without it. "Their attempt to gain financial assistance, and the chaos it inflamed in the industry, is ill-motivated," Hasina told the House during prime minister's question time on Wednesday. "We are now investigating the matter," she said.

On Sept 3, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association demanded the government give the sector a massive cash injection of Tk 30 billion (3,000 crore) by Sept 7—warning that thousands of garment workers would otherwise go without salaries and bonuses ahead of Eid—even though the sector saw exports grow 4 percent above projections last year. Finance minister AMA Muhith immediately dismissed the demand and said it had been "improper" for the organisation to link any recession or stimulus package with wages and bonuses prior to Eid.

The BGMEA later admitted "error" and made a full apology on Monday for the controversial ultimatum, which drew flack from government, workers and a fellow trade body. BGMEA a leader said "mistakes in language" and "frustration deriving from the global recession" had prompted the demand. The demand, however, sparked incidents of unrest among garment workers last week, in a sector which has seen its fair share of industrial strife in recent months, most memorably worker riots in Savar in June that left two workers dead and a factory burned to the ground.

Hasina said on Wednesday that garment factory owners were responsible for security of the industry as well as the government, and those behind recent chaos in the sector would be identified. The prime minister was replying to a supplementary question from Fazlul Azim, an independent MP, who also requested information on formation of a proposed industrial police force to curb sporadic violence in the garment sector. The prime minister said she would look into the issue.

Govt to see whether unrest in
RMG was instigated

The New Age: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday told the parliament that the government was investigating whether someone was instigating unrest in the garments sector to extract financial benefits from the government. Replying to a supplementary question raised by an independent lawmaker, Fazlul Azim, she also said the masterminds behind the unrest in the garments sector must be unveiled.

On September 3 the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association asked the government for a Tk 3,000 crore incentive package to pay workers’ wages and festival allowances even though the readymade garment sector achieved four per cent growth in exports in the last fiscal year. Later finance minister AMA Muhith downplayed the garment factory owners’ demand by saying that it was a tactic for extracting money from the stimulus package. He said the owners are quite capable of paying their workers the due salaries and bonuses.

On Monday the BGMEA leaders apologised for their earlier demand and somewhat threatening statements and urged every factory owner to pay all the dues of the workers before Eid. Hasina said the government has undertaken a plan to form a separate industrial police force to maintain law and order in the industrial belts. She urged the owners of the garment factories to take effective measures to maintain law and order in their own factories. Hasina, in response to a query, said the government had formed the Tourist Police (as a unit of the Bangladesh Police) to ensure security for local and foreign tourists.