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Tannery relocation in limbo

AHONTI MEHTAZ, Star Online
The much-hyped relocation of the tanneries from Huzaribagh in the capital to the proposed 'leather estate' at Savar is still stuck in the ruts, with tannery owners blaming bureaucratic tangles for the unusual delay in the relocation process.
The tannery owners are also bargaining hard with the government for compensation and other facilities.
There are at least 149 tanneries at I Jazaribagh and they pour thou sands of litres of untreated and highly toxic liquid wastage into the Buriganga river everyday, posing a serious threat to human and animal health.
Bangladesh exported leather and leather goods worth $413.05 million in FY07 - $266.08 million leather, $135.94 million footwear and $ 11.03 million leather goods.
In view of the environmental and health hazards, the government undertook a project in 2003 to relocate the tanneries to Savar on the city’s outskirts.
As compensation for the relo cation, tannery owners are demanding that the government should give them 7-8 percent of the relocation costs -- Tk5,4OO crore as grants and loans. They want half the amount as grants.
Their demands also include making the leather estate' a special economic zone with all the facilities enjoyed by the export processing zones (EPZs), provision for easy exit of the 'weak' tanneries from the leather industries and special loan rescheduling facilities for other viable factories.
Defending the tannery owners' demand for the compensation, Tipu Sultan, former chairman of Bangladesh Finished Leather Goods Industry Association, said, The total shift of the tanneries will require an investment of Tk5,400 crore. But with the existing set-up at Hazaribagh, we will be able to cover 25 percent to 40 percent of
the required investment."
"Earlier the government gave us Tkl25 crore for making roads, earthwork and electrification in the proposed area at Savar. We still fall short of Tk2,500 crore. We will definitely need government help. If the government denies us financial support, it will not be possible for us to make the 'leather estate' a special economic zone," Sultan said.
The tannery owners have placed their demands with the government through a report jointly prepared by Bangladesh
Finished Leather and Leather Goods Exporters' Association, Bangladesh Tanners Association, and Leather Goods and Footwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association of Bangladesh.
Blaming bureaucratic tangles for the unusual delay in the relocation process, a tannery owner said the government was supposed to build a common effluent treatment plant (CETP) at Savar by 2010, but no steps have yet been taken.
"The government should make a policy for 'easy exit’ of the weak factories that are heavily indebted
to banks and not financially viable. After the total relocation is over, the price of lands in Hazaribagh will definitely go up," the tannery owner said, adding that they would pay off the bank loans by selling the land and equipment.
"The government wasted a huge amount by giving plots at new location to tanneries which are already closed. The government could save the money and help us in tannery shifting and building CETP Without CETP, the environmental pollution will not stop, and we will find another
polluted Hazaribagh tannery at Savar,'he said.
"According to our agreement with the government, the government can't force us to shift without building CETP" he added.
Tipu Sultan said the govern ment should appoint experts from developed countries to help avoid environmental pollution.
However Industries Minister Dilip Barua on March 3 said the government is going to set up a central effluent treatment plant within a short time for smooth industrial waste management.