RMG units reopen Sunday in limited capacity.

A segment of export-oriented readymade garment factories will reopen on Sunday in a limited capacity with a minimum number of workers, especially those who are living in the adjacent areas.

Industry insiders said that they will go for the gradual reopening of factories while maintaining the strict compliance of COVID-19 suggested by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

Senior vice president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Mohammed Hatem said knitting, dying and sample segments of the knitwear factories will reopen from Sunday with the workers living in the adjacent areas of their respective units.

“Initially we will run our factories with a limited number of workers who are living nearby our factories,” he told The Finance Today (FT) on Saturday.

He, however, requested the workers who are currently living outside Dhaka not to return to their workplaces yet.

The garment units will also gradually open after May 01, he said, adding they didn’t ask any units to call back workers who already left the capital or the industrial zones.

Sources said that the member factories of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), located in Dhaka and Dhaka Metropolitan area, will reopen from Sunday and Monday.

Factories in Ashulia, Savar and Dhamrai and Manikganj will reopen on April 28, 29 and 30 respectively, while the units in Rupganj, Narsingdi and Kanchpur will reopen on April 30.

The units in Gazipur and Mymensingh will reopen on May 2 and 3 respectively.

The cutting, sewing and finishing units will reopen from May 02, 03 and 04 respectively, they added.

Earlier, BGMEA and BKMEA asked their member factories to close their units in parallel with the government announced holiday until April 14. Later, it was extended until April 25 paralleling the extension of the holiday.

Talking to the FT, Mohammad Ali Khokon, president of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) said the member mills will restart production from Sunday, initially with their respective residential workers.

The majority of the textile mills have residential facilities for their workers, he added.