Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association has apprehended that the textile exports might face a setback due to continuous hartal called by opposition political parties.
In a statement on the eve of a 48-hour hartal that begins this morning, the BGMEA said the hartal of July 6 and 7 as well as July 10 and 11 would hamper positive trend of economic progress, although the garment industries had been kept out of the purview of hartal.
'Buyers may switch over to other countries due to political unrest, while 'lead time' for exports will go up as the garment sector will face disruption in production,' said the statement signed by BGMEA secretary Mohammad Mustafizur Rahman.
It said the hartal had been called at a time when the workers were supposed to get their monthly wages. So it would be difficult for employers to pay salaries to workers and it might lead to labour unrest in the readymade garment industry, the biggest export earner.
It said differences of opinion in a democratic society were a must, but those could be removed through dialogues and consultations. The RMG sector, it said, has reached its present level because of patronisation from all political parties and successive governments in Bangladesh.
Based on the economic reality, the BGMEA said the opposition should withdraw hartal and pave the ways for uninterrupted industrial production in the country.
The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its three allies have called a 48-hour continuous hartal on Wednesday and Thursday, while an alliance of 12 parties led by Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish announced another 30-hour hartal covering Sunday and the first half of Monday.
The country is likely to face a virtual shutdown of nearly six days as Friday and Saturday are weekly holidays.
An opinion poll conducted over 3,000 people in 2003 by the UN Development Fund found that the vast majority (95 per cent) thought that hartals had very negative or somewhat negative impact on the economy.
Disruption to mobility, business activities, and daily activities sets negative impacts on the society as a whole. Day-labourers and middle and lower socioeconomic groups were perceived to be the worst affected by hartals.
The estimated average cost of hartals to the economy during the 1990s was 3 to 4 per cent of gross domestic product. The cost is anticipated to be much higher now.
Source : New Age
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