Leather industry has not progressed in the desired direction due to mismanagement: Commerce Minister
Photo Collected
Commerce, Industry and Textiles and Jute Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir said that since the transfer of tanneries from Dhaka’s Hazaribagh to Savar, the country’s potential leather sector has been neglected or mismanaged in the entire process, the leather industry has not progressed in its desired direction.
The Minister said these things to the journalists after an exchange meeting with various tannery owners and leaders of various associations related to the leather sector at the conference room of Bisik Leather Industry Nagar located in Savar’s Harindhara area of Savar on Saturday afternoon.
বিজ্ঞাপন
Minister Khandkar Abdul Muktadi presided over the meeting. Conducted by Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BCIC) Chairman Md. Saiful Islam
Earlier, Khandaker Abdul Muktadir visited the Central Waste Treatment Plant (CETP) of Tannery City along with the concerned persons. The minister said, ‘Leather sector was and still is a very promising sector. The amount of leather extracted in Bangladesh, if we could export all of it throughout the year, then this sector would have become an export sector worth at least 12 billion dollars.
বিজ্ঞাপন
Khandaker Abdul Muktadir said, during the peak season after Eid al-Adha, 45,000 cubic meters of waste is required to be treated in CETP, but in reality, the treatment of this CETP is 14,000 to 18,000 cubic meters and it depends on the pre-treatment quality of the waste at the factory level before reaching the CETP. To solve this problem, it is planned to set up their own CETP in the capable tanneries in the coming days. If necessary, there will be assistance from the government.
The Minister of Commerce also said, ‘With the help of the European Union, a study is underway on how to make this CETP more efficient and its capacity more functional, and it will be available in the next two weeks. We are building a world-class center at Savarei for overall sector development, skill building and design improvement. Where it will be managed by a world-class organization in terms of light engineering, 3D designing and skill building in design for leather.’
During the discussion meeting, tannery owners and leaders of various associations related to the leather sector highlighted the various problems of the industry. Dhaka Tannery Industrial Estate Waste Treatment Plant Company Managing Director Md. Gholam Shahnewaz pointed out the defects in the design of CETP, including the absence of central sedimentation system, tertiary treatment, chrome recovery system, as well as the Chinese company building CETP announced the capacity of 25 thousand cubic meters, but after verification, its capacity was found to be 14 to 18 thousand cubic meters.
Apart from this, he said that although the results of biological treatment of CETP are good, other methods do not function properly. To solve this existing problem of CETP, he proposed to install own liquid waste treatment plant (ETP) through government incentives in 31 tanneries of 50 thousand square feet in the industrial city.
Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA) Vice President Md. Sakhawat Ullah said, uninterrupted power supply is required in the industrial city for three months after Eid. Besides, necessary initiatives will be taken to preserve the leather in the appropriate way at the field level to collect the leather at the price fixed by the government.
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