SAVAR: Ten garment factories in the Savar-Ashulia industrial hub were Friday put under a lockout through declaring ‘holiday’ for fear of flare-ups as labour unrest rocked the capital.
The management of Nasa Group declared holiday in five factories -- Nasa Global, Nasa Hi Tech, Nasa Basic, Nasa Goldren and Nasa AJ Super-- in the afternoon as a preventive step, as the units already had been ravaged through rampages recently.
As some 7,500 Nasa workers were locked out, authorities of some other factories also declared holiday in their factories to avoid any trouble. The closed factories include Trouser Ltd, Continental, Magpie, and Pearl Garments.
Meanwhile, factories’ owners demanded “highest security” for the safety of the apparel industry.
Earlier, security measures were beefed up in the apparel hub following outbreaks of unrest in the capital where scores of businesses and establishments were vandalized.
Police, armed police and RAB were put on alert there to tackle the situation.
Despite Friday being a weekly holiday, many factories in Ashulia remained open. Additional police were deployed in front of the factories while water cannon also were kept ready.
“Our force is kept on standby and intelligence surveillance has been hiked,” Additional Police Super of Dhaka Mozammel Haq told banglanews24.com.bd.
Ashulia thana Officer-in-Charge Sirajul Islam said, “The situation is still normal here as most factories are closed today. But, situation can be volatile anytime.”
Earlier on Thursday, Savar and Ashulia industrial zones were wrapped in security blankets following the announcement of the new wage structure.
Around 5,000 workers of AM Design in Jamgara and New Age Limited in Nishchintapur area went on work abstention demanding Tk 5,000 as minimum wage and restoring other allowances.
According to BGMEA, there are some 250 RMG factories in the Savar-Ashulia belt, apart from those located in Dhaka Export Processing Zone nearby. Apart from those, many factories work on sub-contract.
BDST: 1641 HRS, JULY 30, 2010
