BGMEA refutes ActionAid’s claim 42% Rana Plaza survivors are jobless

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association or BGMEA has rejected ActionAid’s claim that 42 percent of the survivors of 2013 Rana Plaza collapse are still jobless.

The owners' body says the victims have been compensated and employed duly.

But according to ActionAid’s report published on Apr 22, 44 percent of the workers who sustained injuries in the deadly industrial disaster are still jobless four years on.

Twenty-six percent of them are yet to find a source of livelihood, claims the report.

The NGO came up with the data after conducting a survey on 403 workers. Families of 607 deceased workers were also picked as samples, it said.

BGMEA President Siddiqur Rahman brushed off the claim on Monday after paying tributes at the graves of Rana Plaza victims at Dhaka’s Jurain on Monday.

The day was the fourth anniversary of Rana Plaza collapse, one of the worst industrial disasters in the world that left more than 1100 garment workers dead.

More than a thousand garment workers sustained injuries when the commercial eight-storey building ‘Rana Plaza’, housing five garment factories, caved in at Savar on the outskirts of Dhaka on Apr 24, 2013.

“We still have millions in our funds. Many come to us seeking help but fail to produce proper document,” said Siddiqur.

“I completely disagree with the ActionAid statistics. None of the injured workers is jobless now. We will rehabilitate anyone who has sustained injuries in the Rana Plaza incident, if still found jobless.”

BGMEA has arranged work for many of the survivors and will continue to do so in future, he added.

In 2014, foreign buyers and international labour organisations created a fund of $40 million to compensate the families of the victims.

International Labour Organization raised $17 million through its ‘Donor Trust Fund’ to aid the victims. Portions of the funds have been distributed.