The committee, formed to investigate the Rana Plaza collapse, on Wednesday
submitted its report recommending punitive actions against those
responsible for the incident and giving compensation to the victims.“The use of low quality materials for construction of the building,
disrespecting to the building code, presence of garment factories, heavy
machinery in the commercial building and the building owner’s ignorance
about garment factories were responsible for the incident,” said the probe
panel chief Main Uddin Khandaker.
Main Uddin, additional secretary to the Home Ministry, was talking to the
journalists after submitting the 400-page report to the Senior Home
Secretary CQK Mostaque Ahmed.
The committee also made a 15-point recommendation, including three urgent
ones.
The three urgent recommendations include taking steps for giving
compensation to the deceased’s families and proper treatment and
rehabilitation of the injured by selling land where the Rana Plaza was
constructed, setting up garment palli (village) by relocating garment
factories outside Dhaka and taking steps for checking all the garment
factories by experienced technical experts and then displaying documents at
the main gates of those factories whether the factory buildings have
fitness.
The committee also recommended ensuring maximum punishment to the owners of
Rana Plaza and the garment factories housed in the collapsed building.
Steps also should be taken for bringing the Savar pourashava mayor and
engineers concerned to justice for their role in helping construct the
building.
Despite the building was risky, its owner and garment factory owners showed
their utter negligence, ignorance and ultra-greed by forcing the workers to
work on the day of the incident, said the committee chief.
The probe committee took depositions of 150 people while conducting the
investigation.
The government earlier formed a five-member committee, led by Main Uddin
Khandaker, to investigate the collapse of Rana Plaza on April 24.
The death toll from the disastrous building collapse stood at 1,127.
Some 2438 people were also rescued alive from the collapsed building. Of
them, 12 died at different hospitals. (Source: UNB)
