Fatema holding a picture of her son Nurul Karim as she posed for a photograph in front of her slum house in Savar yesterday. Fatema lost her son Nurul Karim and her daugher Arifa, who were working on the fifth floor of Rana Plaza when it collapsed on April 24, 2013.

 

DPA/Dhaka

 

Rikta Moni knows little about where the money comes from that arrives on her mobile phone.

The former seamstress asks for her relatives’ help to read the messages when they arrive on her handset, checks the amount, and then goes out to an agent to get the hard cash.

“I’m not sure who is sending the money. I heard foreigners are giving assistance to the disaster victims,” said Moni, a survivor of the Rana Plaza building collapse that a year ago left 1,135 people dead and more than 2,000 others injured, mostly garment workers.

Moni, like many other survivors, could not return to factory work because of prolonged ailments, and suffers from income loss amid a rising cost of living.

And like many others, she says the compensation she receives is not enough to make up for her sudden loss in earnings, or the hardship she has suffered.

Most of the survivors and families of those killed in the disaster received $580 in three installments on their mobile phones through a privately run financial service called bKash.

Customers receive electronic money into their cell phone accounts and can claim the cash at authorised agents across Bangladesh.

Roy Ramesh Chandra, head of IndustriALL Bangladesh Council, which has been co-ordinating the disbursement of funds for disaster victims, describes it as a “speedy, secure and cost effective mechanism.”

But the mobile phone system was only ever intended to be a temporary arrangement, to pay a portion of the compensation package in advance, said the union leader.

“The final payment will eventually be made through individual bank accounts once the ongoing claim assessment is done,” he said.

The authorities say they will need more time before this happens.

It will take a few more months for them to collect details about the victims and their relatives to disburse the compensation package.

The package will then need to be finalised by a three-member commission, in line with the recommendations of the International Labour Organisation and Bangladeshi law.

There have also been problems with another fund to help Rana Plaza victims and their families.

The Rana Plaza Donors Trust Fund was set up in February from contributions made by international brands, which source their products from Bangladesh, with the aim of gathering $40mn to be disbursed to nearly 3,700 workers and relatives of those killed.

But as of April 16, a week ahead of the first anniversary of tragedy, the brands and retailers had contributed only $17mn.

“We are hopeful the brands will contribute to the fund so that we can disburse a considerable amount of money to the sufferers,” Chandra said.

Global brands including Primark, Mango, C&A, KIK and Wal-Mart used to source clothing at the factories housed in the doomed Rana Plaza, and some have their own compensation schemes.

British discount clothing chain Primark sent in March compensation packages worth 50,000 taka ($640) to 580 factory workers who worked on its products.

While some funds went towards compensation, other investments have been made towards improving safety standards in Bangladesh, the second-largest clothing producer after China.

More than 200 factory inspectors were appointed after retailers from Europe and America decided to launch a programme of safety inspections in nearly 3,500 factories.

The drive to improve safety came too late for Yusnus Ali Sarder, who survived despite being on the second floor of Rana Plaze when it collapsed, but suffered paralysis over most of his body.

His inability to continue working as before, and inadequate compensation from the government has left him disheartened.

“I wish I will be able to use an automatic wheelchair someday, I have no other demands to make at this point,” he said.

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