photo: der Spiegel
One of the survivor of the horrific Bangladesh disaster where more than 1,100 people perished under the rubble of an abusively built construction is speaking out about the conditions she was forced to live in.
She was in the building, working, when the ominous rumble of an imminent collapse started to fill the rooms. She was one of the lucky ones: rescuers found her only three hours into the rescue operation, with an injured leg.
She is Mushamat Sokina Begum, 27 years old, mother of two.
She is scared, and she wishes she would not have to resume work, because the conditions, no matter where she finds work, are dismal.
She says there are other buildings like the one that crashed to the ground in Rana plaza. They are also unsound, and cracks run down the walls.
Another building, also owned by the same man, Rana, who owned the building that collapsed is equally unsound, but has not been shut down.
She knows that she is not safe, wherever she goes.
There are no days off, or vacation time, not even for funerals or illness. Workdays stretch unendingly until late night at times, and the workers are constantly prodded to work faster.
The heat inside the buildings where they toil, she says, is unbereable. Hundreds of people are often working in one room, with barely any air conditioning. They are not allowed breaks, and if they have to relieve themselves, they are chastised for it. Some workers are slapped, if the owner is not happy with their conduct.
Many factory owners do not pay on time. Workers are often made to wait weeks before they receive their money.
She is afraid that clothing orders will slow down or stop because of the Rana incident. Then she would have no other work. If she could by a sewing machine, she would not have to go. But she has no money for a sewing machine. She is trying to send her two children to school. And school in Bangladesh is not free.
She has no expectation for the future. Nothing will change she says. She is particularly upset at the building owner, Sohel Rana. She knows they built the five story high construction without a permit. He was in the building the day it collapsed, but miraculously survived.
She said that on the day of the collapse, many workers stood outside, too fearful to walk in. They knew in their heart something bad was going to happen. In fact the day before, the cracks had gotten worse, and an ominous noise rumbled through the buildings. Workers had been warned too, not to enter, as someone had predicted the building was on the verge of collapse.
But many had to go. They had no choice. Even knowing as they did, that they could die. So they did what they had to do. They were ordered to enter and they did.
Source: Spiegel online 5.16.13
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