Panel of advisers formed to solve Beximco Industrial Park’s labour unrest

The government has formed a six-member committee to review labour and business environment of the Beximco Industrial Park, an enclave of 24 industrial units of the troubled conglomerate Beximco.

Headed be Labour and Employment Adviser Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hussain, the panel will recommend short-, medium- and long-term measures to permanently solve the labour unrest of the park.

The committee will also decide on measures which are required to ensure desired work environment in the similar firms, according to a notification issued by the cabinet division today.

Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed, Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, Industries Adviser Adilur Rahman Khan, Commerce Adviser Sk Bashir Uddin and Chief Adviser's Special Envoy on International Affairs Lutfey Siddiqui are the other members of the panel.

A five-member committee of secretaries, involving Bangladesh Investment Development Authority along with finance, commerce and labour ministries, will assist the advisory panel.

The administrator of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association will support the committee.

The fresh move comes after the government, in the face of continued demonstrations by the workers inside Beximco Industrial Park located in Dhaka's Gazipur, decided to lend Tk 60 crore to Beximco from the national budget to help the much talked-about business house clear wages for October.

The industrial conglomerate, which employs roughly 40,000 people, fell into trouble after the arrest of its vice chairman, Salman F Rahman, who served as private sector adviser to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina before the ouster of the Awami League administration by a mass uprising on August 5 this year.

Production in the 24 factories of the industrial park came to a halt due to raw material shortage and labour payment dues.

The group faced difficulty in opening new letters of credit to import raw materials because of banks' reluctance to extend fresh funds.

Most of the loans of the tycoon have become soured which caused its main lender, Janata Bank, to stop disbursing fresh funds.

Of the Tk 23,000 crore that Beximco borrowed from Janata Bank, Tk 19,000 crore turned sour in the July-September quarter, according to the bankers.

On November 10 this year, Bangladesh Bank, based on a High Court directive, appointed a receiver to Beximco Group to manage its financial affairs and assets.