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managing director of SKS Sweater Factory, a small knitwear factory
ensconced at Hijalhati in Fulbaria of Gazipur. The former garment
worker started out with two machines in April, and is now in full
swing with 18 machines and 15 workers. Sanwar plans to expand even
more over the next five years. "I hope there will be 400 machines in
my factory with 600 workers supporting 600 families." However, his
plans will be in tatters if he does not get the money for the
expansion. Rebuffed by banks, Sarwar was forced to turn to the local
NGOs to get a loan on high interests. "Banks will not lend without
collateral so I went to the NGOs. I hope to employ eight more
machines if I get the money," he said. Despite significant role small
and medium enterprises (SME) play, most banks do not lend money to
SME entrepreneurs that much. Allegation is there that they are not
abiding by the rules of Bangladesh Bank that asks them to lend 40
percent of the distributed loans to SMEs and women entrepreneurs, a
rule that was introduced during the past caretaker government.
According to the latest data of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB),
export earning was $ 14 billion in the 2008-09 fiscal year that
includes more than $ 6 billion from the knitwear sector. Sanwar
worked for 14 years in a garment factory, and then embarked on his
dream to become a big businessman with Tk 40 ,000 as capital, and
honesty, integrity and confidence to draw on. It has become difficult
for the small factories to stay afloat because of the chilling global
recession, said Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters
Association ( BKMEA) president Fazlul Hoque. "These factories should
be helped out from the government's Tk 5 ,000 crore fund for
recession- hit sectors," he said. Factories and owners such as Sanwar
do need to be helped out. "I heard something about the global
recession but didn't think about it that much. My job is to supply
to big factories under sub-contracts," he told bdnews24. com on
Thursday. However, the workload went down with the falling orders
and reduced payment. "Earlier the factories used to pay Tk 25 for
each sweater but now they are paying not more than Tk 20 for the
same," he added. On top of this, Sanwar's factory is suffering from
seven to eight hours of power outage in a day. "I have to use a
generator that costs me Tk 50 per hour, an extra expense," he said.
Sanwar's wife, Jorina Akhter, works in his factory as an operator.
"I hope that my husband will become a big businessman in future and
I'll be able to raise my son properly," said Jorina, a supporter of
Sanwar's dreams. "Even though it's my husband's factory, I take my
salaries and incentives every month. It amounts to Tk 8 ,000-9 ,000
including overtimes," she said. "Sanwar and I used to work in the
same factory before. Now I am happy to work in his factory," said
Selim Mahmud, a worker. "I started working after a one-month training
here. Now I get Tk 4 ,000 a month," said Shimu Akhter, another
worker.
