Relatives of dead, injured Rangs workers demand arrears

Dhaka, Dec 18 (bdprem.com) – Relatives of the five workers whose bodies were pulled from the debris at Rangs Bhaban Monday night said Tuesday that they would not take the bodies home from the morgue until they received the pay-arrears. Authorities of Six Star, the construction firm assigned to the building's demolition work, had earlier pledged to pay the arrears by Tuesday morning. Your Ad Here According to Six Star's estimates, 17 workers—the five dead and others wounded—were supposed to receive a total of Tk 20,000 in wages. But the workers and their families have demanded around Tk 1 lakh, claiming the amount in total arrears. Akram Hossain, cousin of Farid Miah and spokesman for the workers—who come from Faridpur—told bdnews24.com Monday night that the 17 workers from Modhukhali (Faridpur) were owed Tk 1 lakh from Six Star. The relevant bills, invoices and other documents were lost in the wreckage on the day of the accident, Akram said. Sub-contractor Ripon Majhi made a provisional list of arrears on behalf of Six Star. That list stated that the 17 workers were owed only Tk 18,929 in total. Six Star officials have also claimed that the company is in turn owed money from two of the 17 workers. On the payment of arrears, Akram said: "We have been demanding the arrears since the accident. The injured workers have been starving without money. We won't receive the dead bodies from the morgue unless we are paid the arrears." He said he had contacted Six Star spokesperson Rezaul Karim on the matter by phone, who had confirmed that their arrears would be paid by Tuesday morning. Rezaul told bdprem.com, "We will pay the arrears Tuesday in your (reporters') presence. We will also give compensation of Tk 10,000 each for the dead workers and transport charges for carrying dead bodies."