Savar mayor, town planner suspended

The LGRD ministry has suspended Savar Municipality Mayor Md Refatullah, a ward councillor and the town planner following corruption charges pressed against them in connection with Rana Plaza collapse that killed over 1,136 persons, mostly garment workers, on April 24, 2013.

The ministry also directed the municipality to suspend License Inspector Md Abdul Mottaleb, said a gazette notice issued on Sunday.

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Refatullah was suspended once before in 2013 for irregularities in approving the design of the nine-storey Rana Plaza.

The Anti-Corruption Commission on June 15, 2014 filed a case against 17 people, including Ward No-7 Councillor Mohammad Ali and Town Planner Farzana Islam, for allowing the construction of Rana Plaza violating the national building code.

The accused include the parents of Md Sohel Rana, owner of the nine-storey building, engineers, and three owners of garment factories which were housed there.

Rana's name was included in the case later. Rana is in jail now.

Panel Mayor Md Aynal Haque yesterday took the charge of the mayor, said municipality officials.

Meanwhile, the Rana Plaza collapse victims and victim families under the banner of "Bangladesh Garment Workers' Solidarity" formed a human chain yesterday beside Dhaka-Aricha highway in Savar to press home their demands including compensation for them and punishment for the accused.

Zohora Begum, mother of Babu Miah, who went missing after the collapse, said, "There are many families like mine who are living inhumane lives as the incident killed their only breadwinners."

They also demanded that April 24 be declared as "Workers' Safety Day" and also as a public holiday.