Dhaka – Tanners have stopped over all operation of the factories in city’s Hazaribagh yesterday incompliance with the government set deadline January 31.The Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA) has also asked all the members to freez rawhide and other processing elsewhere.
The association took the responsibility to ensure shifting of tanneries in Savar after missing several deadlines.
Meanwhile, the taskforce, formed to protect the country’s rivers from encroachment and pollution, yesterday decided to take effective steps to prevent pollution around the newly built Savar Tannery Village.
Earlier, senior secretary of the industries ministry Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan hold joint meeting with BTA and finished leather goods association leaders, where unanimously decided not to allow to enter rawhide in Hazaribagh after January 31. It also decided to shift all the factories fully by March 31.
“No rawhide will enter to any factory in Hazaribagh from today (Wednesday). We have already informed it to all the members through letters,” president of BTA Shahin Ahmed told The Independent yesterday.
He also said that if any factory owner failed to start their production in Savar tannery village—they can process their rawhide outside of Hazaribagh.
But the BTA president didn’t identify the place where the rawhide to be processed outside of Hazaribagh.
“We have reached a consensus to implement the government decision. So, the association leaders will resist any move to bring rawhide into Hazaribagh from today (Wednesday),: Mohiuddin Ahmed, chairman of Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leather Goods and Footwear Exporters Association told this correspondent.
“A total of 43 factories have already relocated to Savar from city’s Hazaribagh. Effective measures will be taken to prevent pollution of Savar tannery village,” shipping minister Shajahan Khan, who chaired the taskforce meeting, told reporters yesterday.
Among others, land minister Shamsur Rahman Sharif, housing and public works minister Mosharraf Hossain, standing committee chairman on water resources ministry Ramesh Chandra Sen and other related officials attended the taskforce meeting. – Staff Reporter
