CHITTAGONG – A leading Bangladeshi garment manufacturer is offering the manufacturing capacity of his world class facility for the production of protective face masks and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) on a non-profit basis to help tackle the COVID-19 global pandemic.
Denim Expert Limited managing director, Mostafiz Uddin, has reached out to the global community including brands & retailers, governments, embassies, donors, development agencies, global apparel associations and bodies in these unprecedented times.
Mr Uddin is offering the capacity, skills and production expertise of his factory and wants to develop partnerships to meet much-needed short-term demand for masks and PPE in the battle against COVID-19.
Those willing to partner with him and wishing to utilise his production capacity would only be asked to provide fabrics and raw materials as well as meeting workers’ wages.
Mr Uddin stressed that no profit would be made on any of this work.
Many hospitals in Europe and USA are already running short of masks and PPE as they creak under the strain of the pandemic.
“The world is facing a grave threat and we all need to play our part,” said Mr Uddin. “My question is, how can we help?
“Now is not the time for profiteering. Now is the time to pull together to tackle this crisis together. That’s why I am making this offer to work on a not-profit basis at this critical time. We have the production capacity, we have the skills and know-how, we have the people. My business will not make a penny out of this.
“We all have a responsibility and role to play at this critical situation. It’s time not to consider who is big or who is small – I request all to come forward from their respective position to contribute to improve the situation,” he added.
At present, COVID-19 is most prevalent in Europe, where demand for surgical masks and other protective garments has sky-rocketed this past two months. However, other countries – including Bangladesh – are several weeks behind Europe but are expected to follow the same pattern in terms of cases and deaths.
Denim Expert Limited has been declared closed for 11 days from 25th March to 04th April for the safety of its workers and employees from the Coronavirus outbreak. Mr Uddin will pay full salaries to his workers and employees for this period.