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Bangladesh ; Garments industry drenched in US $100 mln loss |
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2004-8-13
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Nature’s fury tells the story all around the countryside. While two-thirds of Bangladesh lays paralysed due to floods, thousands of workers from the garments industry have been left struggling for survival, industry officials said.
Though the garment factories were unaffected, two-thirds of workers could not get to work, said Fazlul Haque, President of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association
The industry accounts for over 76 percent of Bangladesh''s foreign earnings and employs 1.8 million workers.
Production loss was put at $ 75 million by Annisul Haque, President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. However, some industry persons estimate losses as high as $100 million.
The floods have already claimed over 700 lives and government estimates have been pegged the infrastructure and property losses at $6.6 billion.
"I can''t tell yet if buyers have lost confidence but if that happens, it would be a serious problem," said Golam Muhammad Faruk, owner of Crimson Attire Ltd in Narayanganj, just east of Dhaka
The flooding could not have come at a worse time. Bangladesh is struggling to hold on to its markets ahead of the expiry of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement which had ensured export quotas to key markets such as the United States.
Even garment consignments produced on time missed buyers'' deadlines as the month-long flooding that turned much of the country into a vast lake disrupted transport to the main port at Chittagong, owners said.
Some urgent deliveries were sent by air but the 19,000 usd price of sending one six-metre container by air compared to $ 1,200 to ship the same quantity meant the cost was prohibitive for all but the most vital deliveries, said Fazlul Haque.
Meanwhile, the conditions of garment workers, who at best earn a subsistence wage are in dire straits
While most were unable to reach work during the floods, those that did said factory owners refused to pay them. This situation has forced some workers to take out loans to survive.
The garments industry is concentrated in east Dhaka, where buildings were untouched by the floods, and Narayanganj, 20 kilometres from the capital.
Though most factories in Narayanganj remained unaffected by floods, about 100 knitwear units, which produce the fabric required by the garments units, were inundated, said Crimson Attire''s Faruk.
"I had some workers but because there was no transport even the shipments that were ready couldn''t be sent. I''m having to sell them off at a 30 percent discount," he said. |
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