Bangladesh tanneries move faces further delay
09/11/2009
The proposed relocation of tanneries from the Hazaribagh district of Dakha to new facilities in the the nearby Savar district could face further delay, even though the authorities in Bangladesh have insisted that leather producers must move by February 2010, local media have said.
The original idea of moving the tanneries to a new site cropped up in 2003, but it took until 2005 for the formal project to get under way. Since then, there has been a lack of political instability in Bangladesh, making it difficult for the government (for much of the time only an interim administration) to hold up its side of the bargain.
Tanners say the government promised to compensate them for the disruption to their business the changeover would mean, and also that it would provide the funding to build the central effluent treatment plant and hand it over to the tanners to run after two years. In 2008, the government said it wanted the industry to pay for the treatment plant up front, although it later said it would refund the money over 20 years. Discussions on this point are reported to be ongoing, but construction of the central effluent treatment plant has not begun and, some industry commentators have said, will take another two years to complete, making the February relocation deadline unworkable.
The proposed move will affect more than 150 tanneries.
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