President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Faruque Hassan on Sunday said the garment suppliers in Bangladesh are facing difficulties in delivering goods to international clothing retailers and brands on time due to extreme load-shedding.

The situation is so acute that factories are remaining without power now for around 4 to 10 hours a day, he said.

Faruque came up with the remarks while addressing in a discussion on "Launching Web Portal on setting up factories, licensing, certification and registration" jointly organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and the GIZ, a German agency, held in a Dhaka hotel.

Though the government says that load-shedding is being enforced to save diesel, now factories have to run on diesel due to the lower pressure of gas and power, BGMEA president said.

“Gas pressure is so low that factories can't run at full capacity. As a result, diesel consumption has not been reduced. Rather, it has increased,” he added.

Executive President, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Mohammad Hatem, President, Leather goods and Footwear Manufacturers & Exporters Association of Bangladesh (LFMEAB) Syed Nasim Manzur, Vice President, Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) Abdullah Al Mamun, Chief Executive Officer, Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) Ferdaus Ara Begum were present as Panelists of the program.

Dr Michael Klode, Project Manager, GIZ introduced the program while Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Research Director, CPD moderated the function.