Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) on Tuesday urged the government to complete the ongoing work for setting up Closed-circuit televisions (CCTVs) on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway by this March to stop the theft of RMG items.
The Association also requested the government to bring the perpetrators, who are involved in theft of RMG items on this busiest highway, to book.
BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said this while addressing a view-exchange meeting with the journalists held at its office in the capital's Uttara area.
He alleged that over the last one and a half year, a vested quarter has stolen RMG items worth hundreds of crores of Taka from some 2,000 covered vans on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway especially some 20 to 22 incidents of theft took place in last year.
In this regard, the BGMEA President mentioned that in January a foreign buyer from Brazil informed the concerned exporter in Bangladesh that they could not find around 30 to 35 percent RMG items in the cartons under the consignment while many of the cartons were empty. He said around 8,000 RMG items out of 26,000 items were stolen from that shipment.
He said the RAB has already nabbed four members of that gang who are involved in the theft while the covered van has also been seized.
Faruque alleged that the culprits filled the empty cartons with soil and jhut items to keep up the mentioned weight which has incurred financial loss to the buyers and sellers side by side tarnishing the image of the country.
To stop such trend, the BGMEA president also urged the government to take stern action against such wrongdoers and if necessary take tough punitive measures through amending the law.
He also stressed the need for beefing up vigil by the detective agencies alongside the regular vigil by the law enforcement agencies.
The BGMEA president also alleged that some companies are buying such stolen items and thus exporting those abroad as stocklot.
In this regard, he proposed for allowing export of stocklot subject to certification from the BGMEA or BKMEA.
Faruque also proposed for preparing a database of the covered van owners association, transport agency owners association, covered van drivers and helpers and thus sharing those with the concerned stakeholders.