Disaster of Bangladesh

This article is about the distressing incident which took place in Bangladesh where 228 people died in the fall down of eight storey’s Rana Plaza. Rana Plaza had shops, offices and factories crowded with many people. But due to its substandard construction building got collapsed and fell down killing many people. While many of them got trapped and seriously wounded and the Bangladeshi government confirmed a day of national grief.
Rana Plaza contained four garment factories which were supplying economical garments to global retailers like Primark and Bonmarche with their western customer base. Even it was announced that the building is no safer for work and needs to be evacuated on immediate basis but New Wave workers were forced to work in order to fulfill the orders of Primark and Bonmarche. Initially both British companies accepted that New Wave was among their suppliers and committed to offer the possible support but later on refused to take any kind of responsibility in this regard.
In the opinion of retail consultants and other professionals both of the companies are responsible to inspect and monitor the minimum working standards and overall conditions in which their designs and products are being produced as they are earning revenues by selling the same products. The cheap labour and workers who are working in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, SriLanka etc have the similar rights as of western workers and they should be equally acknowledged for their profession and work.

Most of the big retailers like Primark, Bonmarche are outsourcing their products from under developed countries and their customers are getting benefits too of buying low priced items. The Government of Bangladesh and all under developed countries have to implement strict standards for construction of factories, industrial and commercial buildings in order to avoid such disasters. On the other hand the Governments of big retailers have to impose certain statutory regulations which will protect their manufacturers/suppliers in countries like Bangladesh.
Lastly consumers have to play their role by using the purchasing power to force big retailers to follow a book of rule. I would like to add similar incidents which happened in the factories, commercial and residential buildings of Pakistan. Garment factories in the Pakistani cities of Karachi and Lahore caught fire on 11 September 2012. The fires occurred in a textile factory in the western part of Karachi and in a shoemaking factory in Lahore.
The fires are considered to be the most deadly and worst industrial factory fires in Pakistan’s history, killing 257 people and seriously injuring more than 600. The garment factory “Ali Enterprises”, which is located in Plot 67, Hub Road, Baldia Town, Karachi, used to export its garments to Europe and the United, and had employed between 1,200 and 1,500 workers. Ali Enterprises manufactured denim, knitted garments, and hosiery, and had capital of between $10 million and $50 million.
Workers at Ali Enterprises said they earned between 5,000 and 10,000 rupees ($52 to $104) a month for their labour. Margalla Towers Islamabad, Pakistan got collapsed in year 2005. All of these incidents usually take place in developing countries due to the negligence of building owners, lack of construction standards, corruption and lack of governance. Conclusion: The only solution is to build and construct the industrial factories by following international construction standards in order to avoid such disasters.
And international retailers should be very careful in selecting their production partners in order to have smooth supply chain function. The most sensible conclusion is to accept that responsibility is shared between companies and consumers. Put simply, all of us have a duty. “If we want to wear cheap clothes, which are made by people who work in these conditions, then there’s a moral responsibility for us as well as for the brands,” says Ms Lissaman.