Our apparel sector needs more female leaders thedailystar.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thedailystar.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
æç«
Bangladesh: Arcadia Groupâs failure to pay for completed orders pushes factory to brink of closure, endangering 2000 jobs
âWorkers facing destitution as factory set to close within days unless Philip Greenâs fashion empire pays for existing orderâ, 19 June 2020
A Bangladeshi factory owner has warned he will go out of business within days, leaving 2,000 workers facing âdestitutionâ unless ⦠Arcadia group honours contracts for thousands of items of clothing.
Mostafiz Uddin, who owns Denim Expert Limited in Chittagong, says his company is on the brink of collapse after months of requesting payments for goods that were ordered before the coronavirus pandemic.
Players throughout the denim industry did their part to assist, pausing regularly scheduled production and utilizing facilities for essential items such as face masks, personal protective equipment (PPE) and sanitization products. Some provided financial support for nonprofits and hospitals to assist local groups affected by the pandemic, and others supported their employees through disaster relief grants.
But while support was given to frontline workers in need of supplies and corporate employees affected by the pandemic, hardships felt throughout the rest of the supply chain arguably the segments that needed the most support were largely overlooked, and in some cases, deepened.
The coronavirus pandemic has hit virtually all businesses but some have been hit harder than others. Indeed, some have barely been hit at all and a lucky few have thrived during the pandemic. A result of this is that the nature of apparel brands and their supply chains have changed maybe even forever during the past 12 months.
The Bangladesh government is set to enforce a week-long hard lockdown across the country, beginning April 14. Many murmurs it may go beyond that as well. While I understand why the government feels compelled to act that way, I believe we need to rethink the strategy and find some creative ways taking into account the economy of the country, especially its apparel industry, which is intricately linked to global chains, and is already at a fragile state and passing through a critical moment in its recovery.
A better way ought to be pondered which would protect our people as well as their livelihoods. I believe Lockdown Lite which has been practised in many other countries could be more apt for Bangladesh and its needs and circumstances. I am no expert in pandemics or public health, nor do I claim to know more than our esteemed health professionals. Yet, I may submit that the policymakers behind the decision for a heavy lockdown need to consider several other factors.