Apparel Online Bangladesh Magazine September Issue 2018 | Page 33

SUSTAINABLE BD
Remi Holdings Ltd.
Starting operations in August
2015, this Platinum-rated unit
of Bitopi Group is located in
Adamjee EPZ, Naryanganj. It is
the highest-rated LEED platinum
green factory in the country,
with zero wastage in production.
Remi boasts of being the No. 1
green factory that represents
Bangladesh in front of the whole
world.
Holding the Platinum rating since
July 15, 2016, Remi produces
bottoms at a production capacity
of about 4,50,000 pieces per
month. This factory caters to
the fashion brands H&M, Zara,
Kmart, Walmart, Bershka,
Primark, and Matalan.
SQ Birichina Ltd.
Established in 2008, SQ Birichina
Ltd. or Birichina, which means
‘naughty’ in Italian, offers highly
distinguished intimatewear
applying latest technology, like
seam-free bonded products,
ultrasonic laser cut application
with exquisite quality and design.
“Producing quality lingerie with
sophistication and innovation
is the goal of SQ Birchina,”
says its Chairman M. Ghulam
Faruk. According to him, the
green facelift of his industry is
the reflection of the business’
responsibility both towards
environment and the commitment
of brand quality to the buyers.
“Here at SQ Group, we try to do
things differently. We believe in
selling services, not products,” he
told Apparel Online.
SQz ColBlanc Limited
Yet another of the SQ Group,
ColBlanc’s factory is located in
Mymensingh’s Valuka. It is a
woven unit producing quality
garments with the capacity of 1.8
million units per month. Its prime
products are shirts and pants for
men, women, and children. This
factory achieved the Platinum
certification on May 10, 2016.
the facility is regarded as the
most preferred supplier to
renowned high-end retailers.
Celsius currently operates 1,200
semi-auto and manual knitting
machines, producing about
4,50,000 pieces of apparel items
per month.
Its knitwear product ranges
from coarser to finer, acrylic
to cashmere, yarn dyed to
piece dyed and from kids to
adults. With backward service
integration, Celsius offers
flexibility in delivery from one
month to four months’ cycles.
Envoy Textiles Ltd.
SQ Celsius Ltd. Owned by Envoy Group, a
40-business enterprise-owning
company with an annual
turnover of US $ 400 million and
a workforce of approximately
21,000, Envoy Textiles Ltd.
received Platinum certification on
March 31, 2016. Its prime product
is Denim.
This was the foundation business
of SQ Group and still forms its
core business. Set up in 2002, With a prod uction capacity of 48
million yards per annum, it can
provide both basic and premium
Denims in a variety of shades
and cast basic indigos and
sulphur topping or bottoming
in 100 per cent cotton and a
variety of blends. It supplies
Denim to premium brands
like Walmart, Next, Zara,
H&M, Belk, and Kohl’s.
Vintage Denim Studio Ltd.
Owned by ABA Group,
Vintage Denim Studio is
located in Pabna’s Pakshy
and was Platinum certified on
May 30, 2012. This woven unit
has an annual production
capacity of 1 million units
of denim trousers, tops and
jackets for men, women
and children. The Group
offers value added concerns
including apparel wet
processing, laundry services,
packaging, denim embroidery
and printing. The Group has
five other factories, all of
which are LEED certified –
Vintage Denim Apparels Ltd.,
ABA Fashions, Vintage Denim
Ltd., Pimkie Apparels Ltd.
and Apparel Wet Processing.
9 in every 10 garment workers unable to cope
with excessive work: Report
Bangladesh Garment Sramik
Sanghati (BGSS), a platform
for garment workers, recently
disclosed that almost nine in
every ten garment workers in the
readymade garment sector quit
their job within years of joining
as they are unable to do excessive
amount of work. The workers cut
their spending on food as they
lose their ability to work and are
obliged to leave the job.
BGSS conducted the survey
between June and July of this year,
among 200 workers at 31 factories
in six clothing industrial belts of
the country.
As per the report, 67 per cent
garment workers are forced to live
in a single room with their family
as they are unable to afford their
expenses with current wages.
Taslima Akter, President, BGSS,
said that ideally the workers’ wage
should be more than BDT 16,000
but the labour organisations
considering the socio-economic
conditions insisted the Government
to set the wages. Presently the
minimum wages are BDT 5,300
that do not support the livelihood
of the workers forcing them to
take less food. A garment worker
in Bangladesh spends BDT 1,110
a month, whereas they need BDT
3,270 on a monthly basis. market, still 17 per cent of the
workers sleep on the floor.
Khondaker Golam Moazzem,
Research Director, Centre for
Policy Dialogue said, “At least
BDT 22,425 is needed monthly
for a four-member family in the
country.” He also mentioned that
Bangladesh being the second
largest exporter in the global According to Syed Sultan Uddin
Ahmed, Executive Director,
Bangladesh Institute of Labour
Studies, only 20 per cent of
production costs were expended
as workers’ wage. However a
decent wage for the garment
workers is very important for
the future of the industry as the
RMG sector is contributing 84
per cent in total exports of the
country.
Economist Professor Anu
Muhammad and Labour rights
activist Hamida Hossain were
also present at the National Press
Club to talk about the workers
issues in the garment industry.
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