What are your views on the terrible disaster in the clothes factory in India now 500 people deed. Why blame the clothes firms - we all know that the indians need the money to feed their families - where would they be without firms opening factories there? It should be the builders who are to blame for shoddy workmanship.

My view is that it was Bangladesh.






The immediate reporting on BBC news was disgusting, from the way things were phrased you would have thought Primark had planted a bomb there!


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Noni, it was in Bangladesh not India. Different country.
Builders are obviously to blame and lack of Gov. regulations but it is also the duty of the clothes firms to check on conditions where their supplies are coming from.
After all we also blamed the supermarkets here when horse meat was sold.

Yes Bangladesh is as I call India - there are these firms in India, the people need the money. Do you ever see Primark clothes with the name made in Bangladesh, it just says made in India. Why blame Primark etc. - they are just putting money into that country and helping the people. You say about "horse meat" that was the product which come from the factory. The clothes are perfectly acceptable coming from India.


These cheap clothes are always sold in India as well.

Noni, Bangladesh is a different country, you can't call it India, it has a Government etc. like any other country. Of course there are clothes with labels on 'Made in Bangladesh' I had one such cardigan given for Christmas last year.
I imagine also Primark also uses Indian factories and there are similar problems there with sweat shops etc. and illegal buildings,
Bangladesh is a much poorer country and surely the buyer of their goods should make some checks on the conditions. They are not providing a charity they are making profits, look how their shops have expanded.
The 'Fair Trade' sytem is working to some extent in food items

Agree they are there to make a profit - but the people would be so much poorer with them - they want, and need the money.

The problem is the amount they get paid and the terrible working conditions with virtualy no health and safety in place.

John

And exactly how is that going to work?

They are hardly likely to be able to turn up unannounced, and especially after this disaster things will have been suitably "modified" ready for their visit.
Lets face it, coming from the UK, almost all working conditions they come across will look pretty grim.

And no it is not their responsibility to check the quality of construction (this appears to be the main cause here), nor can they check overcrowding, as again, this will have melted away before a visit.

Far too much wailing and whining happens immediately after a disaster like this, then we all go back to enjoying our cheap goods.

What do you think conditions are like in China?
Little chance of influencing them at all!
And most goods we buy come from there, from toilets to tea-towels.


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For information:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=796444



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Sad news about Fatbrit, enjoyed his contributions when he 'ventured' into this forum.

I didn;t !!!

Quite agree with you - it is the construction industry which are the bad guys.

Whilst I did not enjoy or particularly like FatBrit's posts, I had no reason to wish the guy any ill will.

H.

I second your comments.

Under the circumstances perhaps it would have been better not to have commented at all.