'Compensate Rana Plaza victims by Apr 24'

A garments workers’ association has demanded that the compensations for the dead and the injured workers of Rana Plaza be paid by Apr 24.

The National Garments Workers Federation organised a human chain in front of the National Press Club on Saturday to voice the demand.

The families of the deceased, the injured and those still unaccounted for from the Rana Plaza collapse and the Tazreen Fashion fire were present there.

Federation President Amirul Haque Amin said foreign buyers had pledged only Tk 17 million against the Tk 40 million in compensations estimated by the Rana Plaza Compensation Arrangement Coordinating Committee formed under ILO supervision.

“This is not only frustrating, it’s humiliating. The victims are not begging for alms, they are making legitimate claims,” he said.

Habibur Rahman, who was a guard at Rana Plaza, lost both his sons in the accident.

“I found half of the elder’s body, 16 days into the rescue operation. The younger was never found,” he said.

Swapna Akhter, the sister of lost worker Sulaiman Hossain, told bdnews24.com her family had never received any compensation.

“How much longer do we have to go from door to door? We’re not beggars. We have a legitimate claim,” she said.

Rana Plaza, an eight-storey commercial building with several garment factories, collapsed on Apr 24 last year, killing 1,131 people and maiming numerous others, mostly garment workers.

Almost a year into the incident, not all of the workers injured or families of those killed or lost have received compensations.