Industries Secretary Md Abdul Halim has assured the tanners that there will be no shortage of salt to preserve and process leather during Eid-ul-Azha this year.
He made the assurance at a views of exchange meeting with journalists at Savar Tannery Industrial Estate in Dhaka on Wednesday.
Abdul Halim said an increased amount of salt would be needed to process leather in the upcoming Eid and there was a huge stock to meet the need.
He assured them that there was no possibility of salt prices going up.
"Yearly 18 lakh tons of salt are need while the demand is for 10,000 tons only during Eid-ul-Azha," he said.
Citing the Department and Livestock data, Abdul Halim said that around 1,17,000 animals would slaughter this Eid.
He also informed that the work on Savar Tannery Industrial Estate would be completed by June, 2020 as the overall progress of the project was about 73.43% so far.
He said that the various activities of the tannery industry at Savar have already completed. 97% work is done at the Central Waste Refinery Plan (CETP), including dumping. It will take another year to complete them.
He informed that all the capital machinery for the tannery industry were in the Chittagong port and they would reach Savar soon. Then, he hoped, there would be no problem with wastes.
The secretary said a project would be implemented to set up leather and leather products related linkage industry on 200 acres of land. A training institute would also be set up under the scheme, he added.
Despite huge investment and government efforts to make tannery environment-friendly, danger lurks in Savar Leather Industrial Estate as solid wastes are being dumped in the open and the CETP is yet to start full-fledged operation.
During a visit to Savar Leather Industrial Estate last week, Dhaka Tribune found solid wastes littering the open space, polluting the environment in surrounding areas, while the CETP was not fully functioning.
The industries ministry allocated plots to 155 tannery owners through the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation in Savar Leather Industry Estate, constructed on 200 acres of land.
Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA) Chairman Shaheen Ahmed, General Secretary Md Shakhawat Ullah, Professor Md Delwar Hossain, Professor Abdul Jalil, Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leather Goods and Footwear Exporters Association Vice President Md Diljahan Bhuiyan, Professor of Dhaka University Abu Yusuf, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Industries, Md Selim, Project Director at Savar tannery industry Jitendranath Pal and higher official of Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) were also present in the event.
