Garment workers returning to Dhaka on ‘news of opening factories’

All government and private offices including garment factories have remained closed due to the countrywide lockdown enforced to prevent coronavirus (Covid-19) infections.

Amid the lockdown, hundreds of garment workers, risking their lives, are returning to the capital Dhaka on hearing the ‘news of opening factories’.

After visiting Chandona and Chowrasta areas on Dhaka-Mymensingh highway in Gazipur on Tuesday (July 27), it has been seen that hundreds of garment workers, risking their lives, are going to their respective workplaces in Dhaka and its adjacent industrial belts as well as in Gazipur on foot and riding on a rickshaw.

The garment workers were seen coming from Kishoreganj, Mymensingh, Netrokona and Jamalpur districts to save their jobs.

Mehedi Hasan, Assistant Commissioner (Traffic North) of Gazipur Metropolitan Police, said, “We can control the movement of vehicles at check posts set up on the highway. But the real fact is that hundreds of people are crossing check posts on foot. If they are obstructed at check posts, they are choosing other options to reach their destinations.”

When contacted, most of the factory owners refused to talk about the issue.