Analysis Analysis


Crisis in Bangladesh T


Mohammed Fakhrul Alam, author of All About Leather: The Science of Leather Manufacture, provides his opinion on the issues affecting Bangladesh’s relocated leather industry and outlines the solutions


he relocation process for the leather industry in Bangladesh began in 2014, when the government allocated land in Savar city for the tanneries of Hazaribagh, a neighborhood in the capital Dhaka, to move to. Most relocated in April 2017 when the government cut off their utility supplies in Hazaribagh. The relocation plan was intended to improve environmental pollution control, modernise the tanneries, increase export revenue, deliver more employment, and provide safe and sustainable economic conditions for the industry. But the complete opposite happened. This has led to export value losses of more than $5bn in the past seven years (2018 – 2024); the loss of jobs for more than 100 leather


Leather International / www.leathermag.com


engineers as well as the loss of about 5,000 labour roles; only six tanneries having a Leather Working Group (LWG) compliance certificate (with all six being outside of the Savar cluster); and the need for Savar to get technical assistance on environment-friendly leather production from the UK’s Eurofins/BLC Leather Technology Centre. This is despite total government funding for the tannery relocation project amounting to $125m, as well as investment from the owners of 134 tanneries adding up to $225m.


There have been several issues. One has been is that, due to specific LWG audit protocols, the units in the Savar cluster have not been eligible for an LWG audit in order to gain international environmental


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