Government cancels allocation of plots for 11 tanneries

The government has cancelled the allocation of plots for 11 tanneries at the Savar Leather Industrial Park for their failure to go into operation within the deadline agreed upon earlier.  

The announcement came at an implementation progress review meeting of the projects of the Ministry of Industries, under the annual development programme, for the current fiscal year. 

The meeting was held at the conference room of the ministry on Wednesday.

Earlier in 2003, the government had initiated a project to relocate all tanneries from Hazaribagh, Dhaka to a planned industrial area. 

According to a report by the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC), the government has allocated land for a total of 155 tanneries in the Savar tannery estate. 

Some 151 tanneries had begun construction of their main buildings as of September 1 this year. 

Around 120 tanneries have already gone into production, but the construction progress of the rest are very slow, the report said.

Although the ministry did not disclose the names of the tanneries prior to issuing cancelation letters to them, The Business Standard has obtained the names of nine of the tanneries whose plot allocation have been cancelled. 

They are: Helal Tannery, Sonali Tannery, Hussein Brothers Tannery, Karim Leather-1, Karim Leather-2, Paramount Tannery, Chowdhury Leather, Helena Enterprise and Juliet Enterprise.

When contacted, Shakawat Ullah, general secretary of Bangladesh Tanners' Association, said, "They [owners of the suspended tanneries] should have been given another chance as they have no other business. A few days ago, after knowing about their suspension, we requested the land allotment committee to give more time to the tannery owners."

Many of them are going through financial crisis, but they are still trying to complete their construction works, Shakawat Ullah added.

Industries Secretary Abdul Halim chaired the meeting, Industries Minister Nurul Majid Humayun and State Minister Minister Kamal Ahmed Majumder attended as chief guest and special guest, respectively. 

Participants at the meeting informed that there are a total of 49 development projects in the annual development programme of the ministry for the 2019-20 fiscal. The government has allocated Tk1,304.31 crore for these projects.

They also hoped that the construction of the common effluent treatment plant at the Savar Leather Industrial Park would be completed by December this year.