SAVAR: ‘Dada Savar’, a Korean-owned garment industry in Dhaka Export Processing Zone (DEPZ), retrenched all its remaining 428 workers Sunday in the process of packing their bags.

Competent sources of the company told banglanews24.com.bd that the closing process of the factory got underway through the mass-termination parade.

Saying goodbye to the unfortunate workers started in the morning under tight security put up by elite-force Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and police in the export-oriented apparel industrial hub.

An overwhelming majority of 412, out of those 428 jobless workers, are female, the sources said. They mostly came from poor families in outlying parts of the country.     

Dada Savar launched its operation at DEPZ in 1993 with an $18 million investment.

At the beginning, the factory had some 4,000 workers. But the manpower was downsized day by day, reportedly due to global recession and unrest in readymade garment sector of the country.

MM Masud, general manager of Dada Savar, told banglanews24.com.bd, “We were facing difficulty in maintaining the average pay scale of $ 120 for the workers as a 100% compliance factory. At the same time, export order was going down day by day. We lost our patience to cope with those intricacies, and finally the authority was compelled to shut down the factory.”    

But the owners are paying some Tk 4.8 crore as compensation under the so-called golden- handshake measure for the terminated workers according to the BEPZA law’s section-1, 2, he added.

Ashraful Kabir, GM of DEPZ, told the news agency that the company is winding up operations as per the prevailing rules and regulations and they are paying due retrenchment benefits to the workers.

Ashulia thana OC Sirajul Islam said the authorities had asked for police protection before the termination process. “So, we sent adequate force to ensure the safety and security,” he added.  

The factory closure came as a blow below the belt for the large number of workers. “Our future has been doomed after the closure announcement of the factory. We don’t know which way to look after the compensation money is finished, as it is always too tough to get a new job,” many a terminated women rued outside their shuttered workplace.

BDST: 1301 HRS, 25 JULY 2010