Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has urged the government to improve cargo handling services at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to facilitate ready-made garments (RMG) exports. A BGMEA delegation led by Acting President SM Mannan made the request to State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Md Mahbub Ali during a meeting held at the secretariat Thursday. BGMEA Vice-President Md Nasir Uddin; directors Md Mohiuddin Rubel, Md Khosru Chowdhury and Rajiv Chowdhury also attended the meeting. READ: BGMEA wants to increase RMG exports to Canada, promote positive image The BGMEA leaders called for increasing the number of explosive detection scanners (EDS) at the airport to speed up the process of export cargo scanning. They also focused on regularly carrying out maintenance of the existing two EDS as one of them often remains out of service due to the lack of proper maintenance. READ: BGMEA chief invites Canadian businessmen to invest in Bangladesh The BGMEA delegation called on bringing RMG goods inside the cargo village or canopy immediately after unloading from aircraft so that they are not damaged due to rain. They also called for taking steps to make loading and unloading of RMG cargoes faster and properly stacking them in the cargo shed so that goods can easily be found and released quickly.

Speakers in a programme on Tuesday said that about 43 percent female workers at ready-made garments (RMG) sector are victim of malnutrition.

Saima Wazed Hossain has said ensuring that women are protected during this global crisis needs a solution which is based significantly on an understanding of the culture where the woman belongs; and importantly that the biased social and economic structure ensures they are impacted even more adversely.