Less than 24 hours after a structural engineer deemed the building unsafe, Sohel Rana ordered garment workers back on the job.
A 400-page, high-level government report on Rana Plaza, the collapsed Dhaka garment factory, which killed more than 1,000 workers, faults the mayor for approving inadequate building plans and the owner for forcing workers to return to work in the building after the structure began to crack.
The lead investigator on the report suggested that city officials may have accepted bribes during the approval process for the building, writes Jim Yardley.
The report recommends that the factory owner, who is also reported to have added unapproved, additional floors to the structure and loaded them with heavy power generators, stand trial. His sentence could lead to life in prison.
The billion-dollar garment industry in Bangladesh, with over 5,000 factories, is second only to China's.
Read the full story: Report on deadly factory collapse in Bangladesh finds widespread blame
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
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FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
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Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
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