Shutdown of Hazaribagh factories
Tanners fear cancellation of Tk 1,100cr export orders
UNB
Under pressure following the shutdown of their factories in the citys Hazaribagh area, tannery owners fear that their export orders of some Tk 1,100 crore will be cancelled, reports UNB.
According to our initial estimate, the export orders of some Tk 1,100 crore may be cancelled, said general secretary of Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA) Shakawat Ullah yesterday.
He, however, said they started conducting a survey to get the final estimate over the possible cancellation of export orders. Hopefully, well get it [final estimate] within the next three-four days.
In compliance with a High Court order, the Department of Environment (DoE) on Saturday last disconnected utility services -- electricity, gas and water -- to some 224 tanneries at Hazaribagh as they missed several dead-
lines to relocate their factories to the 200-acre Savar Tannery Estate.
The closure of the factories will cast a dire impact on nearly US$ 1.5 billion-leader sector as the owners of many tanneries, particularly the small ones, are still uncertain when their tanneries will be shifted to Savar, according to the industry insiders.
BTA statistics show that the future of 27 tanneries looks bleak as they have not got any plot at Savar.
Arab Tannery, Noakhali Tannery, Manik Sohag Brothers Tannery Ltd, Luna Tannery, Exim Leather, Cromvage Tannery, Ideal Leather Complex, Hamco Leather Ltd, Dia Leather Complex, Kaiser Leather Complex, Lamesa Leather, Kashem Tannery and Mohammadia Leather Complex are among the 27 tanneries.
About the relocation process, the BTA general secretary said it will be possible for some 80-90 tanneries to shift their factories to Savar within the next one month, but the fate of others is uncertain as many of them are dependent on export earnings to shift their factories. But, the operation of their factories now remains suspended, which will hamper their relocation process further.
So far, nearly 40 tanneries have been shifted their wet-blue leather sections to Savar as per the BTA statistics.
The tanneries could not yet install their crust and finished leather sections at Savar estate as the gas connection is still not available there, the owners said.
Owner of Noakhali Tannery and Manik Sohag Brothers Tannery Ltd Md Mukbul Ahammad said the operation of his two tanneries is still unclear as he got no plot at Savar against the two factories.
He claimed that Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) in July 2006 approved two plots against his two units, but did not allocate finally, though some outsiders having no tannery factory got plots at the Savar estate due to underhand dealings.
Shamsuddin and Zahir Uddin, workers of Noakhali Tannery, said they may lose jobs as the tannery was shutdown and there is no possibility to shift the factory to another place.
While visiting Luna Tannery that did not get plot at Savar, this correspondent found huge piles of wet-blue leather yesterday. Some commercial exporters (who are not owners of any tannery but process leather renting factories) were worried with the piles of wet-blue.
Mosharraf Hossain, a commercial exporter, said he has 30,000sq feet wet-blue leather worth about Tk 30 lakh at Luna Tannery, but he does not know the fate of the leather.
Jahangir Rahman Milon, owner of International Tannery, and Jamal Ahmed, owner of Metro Tannery, said the countrys leather sector will lose its international market due to the suspension of operation of the factories.
