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Major deal inked on tannery relocation

Govt, tanners, exporters agree to complete job by Dec next year

Staff Correspondent
The government yesterday signed a deal with two tannery associations to speed up the relocation process of the hazardous tanneries from the capital's Hazaribagh to Savar.
The relocation process would be completed by December next year, said Industries Minister Dilip Barua. "Construction of a central effluent treatment plant [CETP| for the tanneries will also be completed by then."
The CETP would ensure compliance with environment waste management regulations and minimise negative health conse- quences on workers and residents, he added.
Barua was speaking at a programme at the city's Ruposhi Bangla Hotel where Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation, Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA) and Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leather Goods and Footwear Exporters' Association signed the deal.
The contractor for the industrial estate would complete the additional work related to its commissioning, stabilisation, staff training and operations by June 2016, he observed.
The minister added that the sector would continue to see strong growth performance in the international market with the help of its quality leather products.
The country's leather industry has achieved notable success in environment compliance and waste management, said local Awami League lawmaker Barrister Fazle Noor Taposh, adding, 'The deal will surely help the sector improve its performance."
The new industrial area for the tanneries will attract more foreign buyers who want to increase their sourcing from Bangladesh, Taposh said.
The delay in relocation had been affecting the city's environment and was a threat to the country's leather and leather goods sector, said Shaheen Ahmed, president of theBTA.
Compliance is important for boosting exports of leather and leather goods, as international buyers want to pay compliant factories for their products, he said, adding that most of the factories in Hazaribagh are not fully compliant.
The sector exported products worth $980.67 million in 2012-13, up 28.2 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Export Promotion Bureau.
"We can expect the $1-billion industry to be one of $5 billion in future if we can relocate the industry soon enough to Savar, where most of the factories will be compliant, " the BTA president said.
The industries ministry has already allocated more than 205 plots on 200 acres of land in Savar to the 155 tanneries, but there is no plot for the chemical suppliers of the tanneries, he noted.
Abdul Hye, general secretary of the BTA, said, "A policy should be formed to help us complete the relocation process by solving the issues related to the mortgages we have so far taken.
'The government should arrange soft loans for us to complete the relocation process smoothly."
The tanneries in Hazaribagh emit daily about 21,600 cubic metres of environmentally hazardous toxic waste, including chromium, sulphur and ammonium, according to the Department of Environment.