BGMEA President Faruque Hassan has urged the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives (LGRD) to take immediate steps for repairing all the roads in major industrial areas of the country including Dhaka, Gazipur, Narayanganj and Chattogram to ease traffic congestion.

He made the request during a meeting with Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives (LGRD), Md Tazul Islam MP at the secretariat in Dhaka on January 27.

BGMEA First Vice President Syed Nazrul Islam, Vice President Shahidullah Azim and Vice President Md. Nasir Uddin also attended the meeting.

The BGMEA leaders said Gazipur, Chattogram, Narayganj, Savar, Ashulia and Mawna are the industrial hubs of Bangladesh where hundreds of industries including export-oriented garment factories are situated. 

But severe traffic jams due to damaged roads in the areas are causing immense sufferings for regular commuters including workers, employees and entrepreneurs every day and badly impacting the apparel and textile sector and other industries, they said.

Transportation of raw materials and finished goods are seriously disrupted as goods-laden vehicles have to wait long hours on the dilapidated roads. While nagging traffic jams take up from the valuable lead-time, extra hours in transportation is adding to production cost.

Moreover, buyers and their representatives often show their unwillingness to travel to factories because of shabby road conditions, which is not good for the country’s image.

The BGMEA leaders requested the LGRD Minister to take measures for repairing all the roads in the industrial areas in the quickest possible time to ensure smooth vehicular and passenger movement on the roads.

They also apprised the LGRD Minister of the problems being faced by garment exporters in cases of issuance and renewal of trade licenses particularly in Gazipur City Corporation. 

The garment factories are facing difficulties in renewing their trade licenses after the Gazipur City Corporation added the condition of paying holding tax before license renewal. 

The BGMEA President urged the Minister for measures to address the issues.