Human chain and memorandum presented to brick kiln owners in Gopalpur

ছবিঃ

Gopalpur Correspondent:  Leaders of the Gopalpur Upazila Brick Manufacturers' Association have submitted a memorandum to the Chief Advisor and Environment, Forest and Climate Advisor through a human chain and UNO adjacent to the Gopalpur Upazila Executive Office in Tangail, demanding a 7-point stop to the harassment of brick kiln owners. 

The program was held on Tuesday (March 4) at 11 am.

Present at the time were Hamidur Rahman Sona, President of the Gopalpur Upazila Brick Manufacturers' Owners' Association, General Secretary Md. Sohel, and other brick kiln owners.

A seven-point demand was made to protest the closure of Zigzag Brick Kiln and to resolve the complications in obtaining clearance and licenses for Zigzag Brick Kilns as stated in the Brick Manufacturing and Kiln Establishment (Control) Act 2013 and the Brick Manufacturing and Kiln Establishment (Control) Act 2019.

In the memorandum, they said, we have continued the development trend by supplying bricks used in the construction of roads, houses and all infrastructure of the country. Keeping pace with the development of the country, we, the owners of the brick kilns, have used energy-efficient, environment-friendly technology to install modern technology zigzag kilns as directed by the government to prevent air pollution. About 50 lakh workers are employed in this industry and we have made arrangements for the livelihood of 50 lakh families, i.e. 2 crore people. If the brick kilns are closed, these people will become unemployed.

In addition, almost every brick kiln has a bank loan of over 1 crore taka, which is about 8 thousand crore taka. If these kilns are closed, all bank loans will remain unpaid. The owners of the brick kilns give more than thousands of crore taka in revenue. Although the Honorable Advisor Syeda Reziwana Hasan is very sincere, the problem of Zigzag brick kilns is not being solved due to the current bureaucratic complications. We hope that a rational solution will be found for the operation of the brick kilns through the Honorable Chief Advisor and the Honorable Advisor of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. First of all, we have agreed with the Honorable Advisor on the decision to completely close the drum chimney, fixed chimney and wood-burning brick kilns. However, no harassment or mobile court can be done in the Zigzag brick kilns, otherwise we will be forced to stop paying VAT tax. If any brick kiln is to be closed, it must be closed by providing financial compensation from the government. The provision of taking DC certificate for cutting soil should be abolished. Environmental clearance certificate, DC license, fire service license, trade license and other documents should be issued. There should be a provision for mandatory submission of the certificate of the Central Brick Manufacturers' Association at the time of renewal. Demand that brick kilns be declared as industries.

In addition, long-term comprehensive policies must be formulated for the management of brick kilns.

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