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.
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