Bangladesh says 7 inspectors failed to check doomed factories
10 June, 2013 - Bangladesh has suspended seven inspectors it accuses of negligence
for renewing the licenses of garment factories in a building that collapsed in April,
killing more than 1,100 people, a top Labour Ministry official said on Monday. The
official, Mikail Shipar, said a ministry investigation found that the inspectors never
even visited the five factories housed in the shabbily built eight-story Rana Plaza
building. He said one of the factories, EtherTex, had been operating without any license
from the factory inspection department since 2008, while the others were licensed
through 2013. At least 1,129 people died when the building in the Dhaka suburb of
Savar collapsed April 24, a day after cracks in the building prompted authorities
to issue an evacuation order. Shipar said the ministry's report was preliminary,
and that if the accusations are proven the inspectors, all mid-level officials, will
lose their jobs. Inspectors are required to visit factories before issuing licenses,
but ``in the cases of these five factories, the inspectors renewed the licenses sitting
at their desks,'' Shipar said. The number of factories in Bangladesh has soared
in recent years to more than 240,000, while their safety is checked by only 50 government
inspectors who issue operating licenses, said Obaidul Islam, a senior official at
the office of the Chief Inspector of Factories. Islam said the factories include 3,500
garment factories that employ more than 3 million workers, mostly women from impoverished
villages. Shipar said three of the suspended inspectors were also involved in renewing
the license of a garment factory where 112 people were killed in a fire in November.
He gave no details about whether the inspectors are accused of wrongdoing in that
license renewal. Another government probe, formed by the Home Ministry, blamed
the use of poor construction materials and unauthorized generators for the collapse
of the Rana Plaza building. Sohel Rana, the owner of Rana Plaza, and five executives
and owners of the factories it housed have been arrested and face possible charges
of negligence and violation of factory and building codes. After weeks of questioning
by police they have been jailed pending formal charges and a trial. It is still unclear
what charges will be brought against the six suspects. If they are accused of causing
deaths through negligence they could be sentenced to life imprisonment, said Khandker
Mainuddin, a senior Home Ministry official. (Source: AP)