Another deadline expires, tanneries yet to relocate

The Government is yet to act against the tannery owners for their failure to relocate factories to Savar Leather Industrial City from the city’s Hazaribagh area before the deadline ended on Sunday. The Government had extended the deadline by seven days on April 3, but the owners failed to execute the Government order. Green activists alleged that tannery owners are just taking more time in the name of extension of deadline instead of shifting their factories.
According to sources, neither authorities concerned nor the tannery owners are yet prepared for shifting the tanneries from Hazaribagh to Savar Tannery Village. In fact, it will take another six months to a year to complete the construction work at the Savar Tannery Village site.
At least 50 tannery wastes are needed to run one unit of Central Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP), but only 10-15 factories are about to complete their construction without gas, water and other utility services connections, the source said.
“A meeting on the construction work status will be held on Wednesday at the Industries Ministry. Further decision will be taken at the meeting,” Abdul Qaiyum, Project Director of the Savar Tannery Industrial City, told The Independent yesterday. When his attention was drawn to the ending of the extended deadline period, he replied, “We are waiting for the Government’s decision in this regard.”
“We demand legal action against the tannery owners in Hazaribagh for violating the government order. We are also demanding legal action against the department concerned for not implementing the project, including installation of the CETP, within the stipulated time,” Abu Naser Khan, Chairman of Poribesh Bachao Andalan (POBA), told The Independent.
“The government should impose a fine of Tk. 2,500 crore under the Environment Conservation Act, 1995, for causing damage to the environment and the river Buriganga,” he said in reply to a query.
He further added that the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) has already disbursed Tk. 60 crore from the approved Tk. 250 crore to tannery owners as compensation, but they are dilly-dallying in shifting their factories. “The government should create pressure on the factory owners by disconnecting all utility services, including gas, electricity and water, in Hazaribagh,” Khan said. On the other hand, General Secretary of the Bangladesh Tanners’ Association (BTA), Md Shakhawat Ullah, told this Correspondent that they need more time to shift the factories. “Besides, the infrastructure is yet to be completed from the Government’s side,” he added.
In all, 28 tannery owners are setting up tanning drums, though the construction work on electricity sub-stations is yet to be completed. Besides, screening lines of wastes is yet to be connected with the main pipe. Demand notes have been issued against 85 tanneries for depositing money to get electricity connections, while around 60 have applied for gas connections and 35 for water connections, sources said. On January 10, Industries Minister, Amir Hossain Amu, had asked tannery owners to shift their units within 72 hours and directed the authorities to serve legal notices. About 205 plots at Savar have been allocated to tannery owners so far.

 

Another deadline expires, tanneries yet to relocate

The Government is yet to act against the tannery owners for their failure to relocate factories to Savar Leather Industrial City from the citys Hazaribagh area before the deadline ended on Sunday. The Government had extended the deadline by seven days on April 3, but the owners failed to execute the Government order. Green activists alleged that tannery owners are just taking more time in the name of extension of deadline instead of shifting their factories. According to sources, neither authorities concerned nor the tannery owners are yet prepared for shifting the tanneries from Hazaribagh to Savar Tannery Village. In fact, it will take another six months to a year to complete the construction work at the Savar Tannery Village site. At least 50 tannery wastes are needed to run one unit of Central Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP), but only 10-15 factories are about to complete their construction without gas, water and other utility services connections, the source said. A meeting on the construction work status will be held on Wednesday at the Industries Ministry. Further decision will be taken at the meeting, Abdul Qaiyum, Project Director of the Savar Tannery Industrial City, told The Independent yesterday. When his attention was drawn to the ending of the extended deadline period, he replied, We are waiting for the Governments decision in this regard. We demand legal action against the tannery owners in Hazaribagh for violating the government order. We are also demanding legal action against the department concerned for not implementing the project, including installation of the CETP, within the stipulated time, Abu Naser Khan, Chairman of Poribesh Bachao Andalan (POBA), told The Independent. The government should impose a fine of Tk. 2,500 crore under the Environment Conservation Act, 1995, for causing damage to the environment and the river Buriganga, he said in reply to a query. He further added that the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) has already disbursed Tk. 60 crore from the approved Tk. 250 crore to tannery owners as compensation, but they are dilly-dallying in shifting their factories. The government should create pressure on the factory owners by disconnecting all utility services, including gas, electricity and water, in Hazaribagh, Khan said. On the other hand, General Secretary of the Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA), Md Shakhawat Ullah, told this Correspondent that they need more time to shift the factories. Besides, the infrastructure is yet to be completed from the Governments side, he added. In all, 28 tannery owners are setting up tanning drums, though the construction work on electricity sub-stations is yet to be completed. Besides, screening lines of wastes is yet to be connected with the main pipe. Demand notes have been issued against 85 tanneries for depositing money to get electricity connections, while around 60 have applied for gas connections and 35 for water connections, sources said. On January 10, Industries Minister, Amir Hossain Amu, had asked tannery owners to shift their units within 72 hours and directed the authorities to serve legal notices. About 205 plots at Savar have been allocated to tannery owners so far.