National

The decision was made at a meeting of the Advisory Council Committee on Reviewing the Labour and Business Situation of Industrial Establishments in Beximco Industrial Park, chaired by Labour and Employment Adviser Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hossain

All factories under Beximco Textiles have been shut down and all workers terminated from 28 February.

The dues of workers from these factories will be paid in phases starting 9 March. The ministries of finance and labour will provide the funds, with the labour ministry directly responsible for disbursing the payments, according to a Beximco notice.

The decision was made at a meeting of the Advisory Council Committee on Reviewing the Labour and Business Situation of Industrial Establishments in Beximco Industrial Park, chaired by Labour and Employment Adviser Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hossain yesterday (26 February). 

When asked about the matter last night, M Sakhawat Hossain declined to comment, saying the meeting’s decision would be announced at a press conference today (27 February).  

However, a Beximco Group official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Business Standard that Beximco Textiles Managing Director Osman Kaiser Chowdhury attended the Advisory Council committee meeting, where he signed the factory closure notice. TBS has obtained a copy of the notice.

The notice states that all officers, employees, and workers at 14 establishments, including Beximco Limited (excluding Yarn Unit-1) in Beximco Industrial Park, Kashimpur, Gazipur, were laid off under the Labour Act citing a lack of work, effective from 16 December and 5 February.  

The notice further states that due to the absence of work resources, all factory workers have been laid off from 28 February, with the company’s operations fully shut down. Laid-off workers will receive their dues in phases from 9 March in accordance with laws and regulations.  

A copy of the notice, signed on Wednesday, has been sent to the secretaries of the ministries of finance, labour, and industries, along with senior officials of relevant government and private agencies.  

According to Beximco Textiles, the company needs Tk550-600 crore to pay workers’ due wages in compliance with labour laws. Beximco had requested Tk400 crore in assistance to keep the factories running, but neither the government nor Janata Bank responded to the request.

Salman F Rahman, owner of the Beximco Group and former private industry and investment advisor to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has been in jail since 13 August last year, a few days after the fall of the Hasina-led Awami League government. 

On 29 August, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) froze the bank accounts of Salman F Rahman, his son Ahmed Shayan Fazlur Rahman, and his daughter-in-law Shazreh Rahman.

On 18 September, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Police filed 17 cases against 28 individuals from Beximco, including Salman F Rahman, on charges of laundering approximately Tk1,000 crore abroad under the guise of export trade.

A committee of the interim government had initially decided to sell shares of certain Beximco Group companies to pay off the workers’ dues. However, due to complications in the share sale, it was decided to pay the dues from government funds.

Following the fall of the Hasina government, 16 out of the 31 companies under the Beximco Industrial Park have been fully shut down. These companies have accumulated loans of Tk28,000 crore. Beximco Group announced factory layoffs due to a funding crisis and the inability to open letters of credit for importing raw materials.

Beximco Group claims that its Textiles and Apparel Division has been the highest exporter through Janata Bank for many years, with an average monthly export of $32 million over the past six years. In 2022, the average monthly export reached $59 million.

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