Anti-tobacco group condemns government decision to allow new tobacco manufacturing plant

Anti-tobacco group Knowledge for Progress today condemned the government's decision which has allowed a tobacco company to set up a new manufacturing plant in the country.

In a statement, the group, also known as Progga, said Asian Tobacco Ltd has started setting up a new cigarette manufacturing plant which goes against the promise of the prime minister to build a tobacco-free Bangladesh by 2040.

The company has signed a MoU with the Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority (BEPZA) on Wednesday in this regard. They are to set up the new factory in the premises of Iswardi Export Processing Zone, it said.

"It is an alarming fact that such death traders are given opportunities for expanding their business where public health is at stake," Progga said, mentioning that 1.26 lakh people in Bangladesh die each year due to tobacco consumption and millions of people are crippled by it.

In order to safeguard the people from the deadly clutches of tobacco and make way for a tobacco-free Bangladesh, such initiatives must be withdrawn, it added.

Promoting tobacco companies can never aid in achieving tobacco-free Bangladesh, said ABM Zubair, executive director of Progga.