Mr. Abu Tayyab, BGMEA Vice President heading its investigation team on Kalurghat tragedy, told BBC that one or two incidents in an industry with over 4,000 factories and 2m workers are not significant (Pravati, 2/25). He didn't say up to how many workers' lives are expendable as a normal cost of doing business, but we feel it is a little 55 lives too many in Kalurghat.

BGMEA wants to wash its hand by compensating Kalurghat victims: one hundred thousand taka for each dead and wounded. Of course these families need the money for more mundane use: to live through a life without their (sometimes only) earning member, or for the expensive burn treatment. But a hundred thousand taka is at best a joke that is not funny.

The association also cancelled the membership of KTS, the garment factory where these 55 of caged people were burned alive. That is odd, was anybody pleading to keep membership for a truckload of charcoal and ashes? If this garment makers' association really wants to make a difference it should put the stitch where it will save nine in future. They should focus on the membership of hundreds of current members who flout the rules for workplace safety and building construction.

Working in this industry for eight years, I have seen that many owners consider workers' rights and workplace safety requirements as nothing more than a drain on their finances. Those who give heartbeat to our economy with $4.6b export earning deserve better mentality. It shouldn't have taken a tragedy of Kalurghat proportion to make that point. Ashish Ahsan, Uttara, Dhaka * * *

I note with deep concern and sincere regret the recent tragedies in Chittagong

and Tejgaon, particularly their immeasurable human cost. The deeper part of the tragedy is that these events have disproportionately impacted on those who have already had a marginal and vulnerable existence due to their poverty and gender (as more than 80% of RMG workers are female). For too long in this country the rights and safety of our workers have been undermined by a ruthless quest for wealth -- wealth which is earned through the hard work of workers, but which enriches others. Inadequate safety measures, blocked stair wells and inhuman working conditions are undermining the rights of the workers, the backbone of our economic growth, and are hampering the prospects of true and equal development in our country.

Though the warnings of previous tragedies such as the Spectrum garments factory collapse in Savar less than a year ago have not been heeded it is time for action now. I applaud the decision of BGMEA to inspect all garments factories across the country, and urge them not to lose sight of the importance of enforcing the law that exists, punishing offenders and above all ensuring that the rights of the workers are paramount concern in all activities undertaken within these factories. I further urge the government to recognise the immense wealth and potential that exists in the human resources of the country and to foster that resource through adequate education and by respecting the rights of all people in the country, especially the most vulnerable. Buyers are exerting pressure for improved working conditions. If the warnings of these tragedies are not heeded, Bangladesh faces another more enduring tragedy, the withdrawal of foreign investment and further descent into the quagmire of poverty.

Taleya Rehman

Executive Director, Democracy Watch Ramna, Dhaka

* * *

We all know that a driver of a vehicle can be prosecuted for accidentally killing a person on the road. But what we do not understand is why the owner of the collapsed building in Tejgaon that killed dozens cannot be prosecuted under the criminal law of the country. It is now clear that the owner deliberately broke all relevant laws of the country to add three more floors to his existing structure that caused the building to collapse and with it perished the poor people who were in and around the building. In any country, the owner would have been prosecuted for manslaughter if not for first-degree murder.

I hope some benevolent judge will take note of it and issue a suo moto rule upon the owner of the building as well as the government. The police and the ministers seem to be compromised particularly when you see on TV that the owner was resting peacefully at home while the minister said that the person could not be found. The owner of the building cannot go scot free for his deliberate criminal act just because he happens to be one of the richest men.

Khandaker R Zaman

On e-mail

* * *

Few months back I had the opportunity to visit some garment industries at Konabari, Gazipur.

What I found appalling is boilers located on the same floor where production and finishing were going on. These boilers are locally made and I doubt if these are safe and certified by the authority concerned.

Boilers can burst, if its pressure is not properly monitored, causing damage to

the entire building and loss of innocent lives. As far as I can feel boilers should be located away from the main building and working place.

The haphazard development of Konabari is an outstanding example of ignorance and greed. The lanes in this area are so narrow that in case of fire no fire brigade vehicle would be able to reach the affected site. More surprising is that the fire brigade unit for Konabari is located 15 km away in Joydevpur.

A government of any other country would have developed a place like Konabari, that earns huge foreign exchange, into a modern industrial township with latest facilities. It is our nation's bad luck that the authorities seem ignorant.

Finally none of the factories have a workers' union or staff welfare office located in the premises to look after the workers.

Another surprising fact is that most of these factories despite their hazardous locations get buyers' compliance approval. After all who inspects the factories and give approval? In most cases the local staff of the foreign organisa-tions/buyers.

If you go to the main crux of the malaise, it is the corruption at all levels that has made lives of the innocents hazardous.

At least if the owners of factories had some heart to accept the fact that it is the workers who actually earn money for the factory and they (workers) need to be well looked after in terms of safety and well being, then many accidents could have been avoided.

Ziauddin Ahmed

On e-mail