The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has urged the government to take immediate steps to fix the inoperative explosive detection systems (EDS) at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

The association also called for increasing the number of scanners to speed up the process of scanning export cargoes.

A BGMEA delegation, led by the president of the apparel sector's apex body Faruque Hassan, made the request to Md Mokammel Hossain, secretary at the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, during a meeting at the secretariat Sunday.

BGMEA vice-presidents Shahidullah Azim, Khandoker Rafiqul Islam, Md Nasir Uddin and Dr Abu Saleh Mostafa Kamal, managing director of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, were also present at the meeting.

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RMG exports are being hampered as two EDS machines have remained out of service while another two newly installed EDS machines at the airport could be made operational as they are yet to get validated.

So, the BGMEA leaders stressed regularly carrying out maintenance of the EDS to keep them operational as the scanning process is hampered very often due to technical glitches.

They also requested the authorities to ensure enough space at the scanning area so that export cargoes could be scanned in an orderly manner and shipped timely.

Besides, a spacious parking lot is needed to keep the export freight after scanning for air shipment.

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The delegation called on bringing RMG goods inside the cargo village or canopy immediately after unloading them from aircraft so that they are not damaged due to rain.

The BGMEA leaders requested for steps to properly stack RMG goods in the cargo shed so that cargoes can be found out easily and released quickly.