BGMEA vs the people of Bangladesh

In a major blow to the money power of Bangladesh's super rich and its prime lobbying group and association, BGMEA, the Supreme Court Appellate Division has ordered the demolition of its illegally constructed building. Through this ruling, BGMEA has failed in its last legal battle to keep the building up.

The news has been welcomed by everyone not benefitting from the garments industry. It is one of the most popular decisions ever delivered by any Bangladeshi court in its history. In a 2011 verdict, the High Court found that the building had been constructed by violating laws meant to protect wetlands, and ordered its demolition. The court said the building was hindering the water flow of Begunbari canal and hampering the Hatirjheel project.

It has taken five years for the law to reach this point and the delaying tactics of the BGMEA has been largely successful. More is expected in the days ahead.

The Supreme Court upheld the High Court ruling which had termed the building as 'a cancer' inside the Hatirjheel project. "This destructive structure will infect the entire city if it is not immediately torn down."

The BGMEA, which is the most powerful business group in the country, has generally considered itself above the law. The decision to construct the building, which lay inside an environmentally protected zone, shows as much. Their strength is based on the wealth of the RMG sector and the poor people it employs as workers. Some are saying that the decision will negatively affect the economy. How it would happen is not said but the implication is that an unhappy RMG sector is bad for Bangladesh, no matter what. It's this attitude of being above everything that drove them to go ahead with the building in the first place.

BGMEA had played a trick to avoid demolition of the structure by selling flats and portions of the building, to spread the stakes among multiple entities, and minimize risk of punitive action. The Supreme Court also took this into account, but said the sales were illegal as it never had the right to build in that area at all. The buyers should have their money returned within a year after the claim, it added.

However, the Supreme Court rebuked the apartment buyers as well, whom it saw as part of a move to protect the structure. "Since the buyers knew or should have known that BGMEA had no claim to the land, they are not entitled to receiving interests. The BGMEA is not above the law just because it has financial muscles. An important organization like BGMEA should have been more respectful towards the law. But they belittled it instead."
This is the first unmitigated principled stand against the RMG lobby since it came into existence. People are grateful to the Supreme Court for the bold decision, but congratulations are also due to the present government for ensuring a free space for the Supreme judiciary to function this way.

But to think that BGMEA is not already planning to strike back is a mistake. The BGMEA has always been able to get away with what it wants, because it is a very important part of the economy. Many AL and BNP leaders are also RMG factory owners and shareholders, and most contribute to the political coffers. Several ministers are not just friends but play the role of lobbyists of the BGMEA inside the government. But if they have not been able to do more than what they have done already, it is largely due to the lack of access to the PM on this matter. Since the PM is fundamentally a political person, her interest in the RMG sector specifically is limited. She measures her success by other sectors too such as energy, IT, infrastructure, remittance economy etc. So the kind of clout the sector had in the past is less now, making maneuverings slightly difficult. But there is no shortage of efforts, and no one can say with total certainty that the Supreme Court decision will be the final word on the matter.

Implementation of the decision has now become a test of legal and good governance for the government system as well. Some of the most frequently asked questions are about the role of RAJUK and how it gave initial permission for the building to go ahead. Most people think that RAJUK is involved, and were either swayed by money or forced into relenting due to pressure put on them by a section of the government. RAJUK is not known as a clean organization, but because the rich and powerful are always grabbing public property or violating rules, they need RAJUK to sign their documents and legitimize their dirty deeds. That is why a totally illegal and destructive decision to go ahead with the BGMEA building could be taken by RAJUK without ever fearing accountability.There is a long participant list in this procession of corruption.

But the BGMEA building is not about whether an illegally constructed building should be allowed to stay or not. It is about whether the super-rich will be allowed to roam free because of their financial clout. The building was built on an environmentally protected land, because the BGMEA had thought it could get away with it.

A full investigation panel should be set up to identify the entire chain of illegality and find out who are responsible for the decision to permit construction. It's not a battle for removing an illegal building anymore, it's about who owns Bangladesh. If the building stays and the perpetrators are not punished because they have money and can pay off anyone, the price will have to be paid politically as well.

Once this matter is resolved, the GOB must use the ruling to go after every encroacher in the city and Bangladesh. The Supreme Court has created the space. The rest is up to the Government in power to carry out the will of the people.

No excuses are left.