Justice
in Bangladesh grinds slow, but at least it grinds. Three years after
1,135 workers lost their lives in the collapse of the multi-story Rana
Plaza garment factory, the court case against 38 people has begun, on
charges of murder.
It might have been thought that this disaster would at most have
generated manslaughter charges. However, the Bangladeshi authorities are
entirely right to have gone for murder. These poor people died because
of a willful act, a decision which placed their lives in jeopardy.
Only the day before the Rana Plaza collapsed like a house of cards,
cracks which had long been observed in the building became noticeably
worse. Bits of cement fell off walls and ceilings. There were some 5,000
people in the building. The workers streamed outside in alarm. Top
managers were called who assured everyone that the place was safe. When
some employees refused to return, they were told that they would not be
paid for work that they had already done and would be fired.
The next day the workforce, still anxious, dutifully returned. There
was one of the power cuts that bedevil the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka.
Heavy diesel generators on the roof of the four stories that had been
added by the owners without permission were started up. The vibrations
of the generators, together with that of the serried ranks of machinery
on the shop floors, almost immediately brought about the collapse.
Apart from those that died, around 2,500 occupants were hideously
injured.
There can be no doubt that this crime amounted to corporate murder.
Now 38 people including the building’s owners and the bosses of the
garment firms within it are on trial, very possibly for their lives.
But this is only part of the Rana Plaza tragedy that is being
examined. Far more remains unclear. Recoiling in horror at the carnage,
the big Western brands whose products were made so cheaply in similar
death-trap factories, vowed that they would force their suppliers to
clean up their acts. There was much virtue-signaling and self-serving
publicity made from visits by big brand executives to Bangladeshi
garment factories. The local owners promised to make changes. Some
factories were shut down, though as it turned out, only temporarily. In
one case the interior of a multistory manufactory was reinforced with an
internal steel frame. Union officials claimed it would be of dubious
use. More importantly, the steel girders constricted the already tight
space in which the workers operated and effectively blocked access to
the emergency exits.
Bangladesh’s garment industry has been a noticeable success story,
making a major contribution to the country’s gross national product. But
there has to be a clear balance between wealth creation and the welfare
of the workers who make it happen. At the heart of the Rana Plaza
disaster were spectacular regulatory failures. This was a building zoned
for offices not manufacturing. It was built on a rubbish dump without
proper foundations.
Four floors were added without any action from planning officials. At
every stage, this was an entirely preventable tragedy. It must be
hoped that the trial that has begun will expose why regulators turned a
blind eye to a succession of planning breaches. All those guilty of this
slaughter deserve to be punished but it is equally crucial that the
lessons learnt from this crime will not only be learned, but rigorously
applied.
