Netrakona Correspondent
Thousands of workers, employees and owners who were injured in a brick kiln in Netrakona district have held a protest march and submitted a memorandum. They demand that mobile court fines and vandalism will not be allowed in brick kilns. A memorandum was submitted at the end of the protest march protesting its closure. As part of the nationwide program, a memorandum was submitted to the Chief Adviser and the Ministry of Forest and Climate Change through various Upazila Executive Officers of the district, including Netrokona Sadar Upazila, on Tuesday at 11 am. Present at the event were Md. Abul Khair Akand Titu, General Secretary of the District Brick Manufacturers’ Owners’ Association, Md. Abul Khair Akand Titu, Vice-President of the District Committee, Md. A. Wahed, President of the Sadar Upazila Brick Manufacturers’ Owners’ Association, Md. Jasim Uddin Bhaiuya and General Secretary Md. Mehedi Hasan Talukder Antar, along with owners’ employees and journalists from the district’s print media. Abul Khair Akand Titu, general secretary of the District Brickyard Owners Association, said that brickyard owners in Bangladesh have been operating the brickyard business for the past 35/40 years in the interest of the country’s development, despite many adversities. The country’s roads are being used and supplied for the construction of infrastructure, including houses. The country’s development has continued. Brick kiln owners have established zigzag kilns using modern technology as directed by the government to prevent air pollution, making them known as a sustainable and easy technology in the subcontinent through energy- efficient, environment-friendly technology. There are about 5 million workers employed in this industry and the owners of the brick kilns are providing livelihood to 5 million families, or 20 million people. If the brick kilns are closed, these people will become unemployed. In addition, each brick kiln owner has bank loans worth billions of taka. How will the owners repay the bank loan, which is around 8,000 crore taka in total, if the brick kilns are closed? Therefore, we are demanding that brick kilns be declared as industries and that a long-term restructuring policy be formulated for the operation of brick kilns.