• Several EPZs and FTZs impacted

By Sarah Hannan Facing the most aggressive spread of the novel coronavirus in Sri Lanka and with health experts now claiming that the viral load this time around is at the strength of infecting nearly 500 persons per asymptomatic person, the complacency the authorities are displaying has raised many concerns.  The latest outbreak that unfolded on 3 October has now one on to infect over 2,500 persons that directly or indirectly came into contact with persons affiliated to the apparel sector, which has raised doubts about whether some protocols were ignored at the hand of the relevant authorities in the rush to contain the situation.  The Sunday Morning, over the past two weeks, received several accounts of mismanagement of persons, not only when they were to be referred to quarantine centres or were required to observe home-quarantine as directed by the public health inspectors, but also when they had been asked to arrive at a public location to provide their nasopharyngeal swab samples for PCR testing to the relevant health authority teams.  The Stand Up Movement in Sri Lanka Convenor Ashila Dandeniya has been actively relaying the hardships that the Free Trade Zone (FTZ) and Export Processing Zone (EPZ) employees are undergoing at present through social media platforms.  [caption id="attachment_102362" align="alignleft" width="150"] Stand Up Movement in Sri Lanka Convenor Ashila Dandeniya[/caption] Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Dandeniya noted: “The biggest concern that we now have is that some of these groups have run out of dry rations and they have not been given clear instructions as to what they should do next. They are enveloped in uncertainties and we cannot even reach out to them to provide them the necessary psychosocial support or provide them rations.”  Recalling the first few days following the first apparel worker being detected as a Covid-19-positive person, Dandeniya claimed that the public was quick to stigmatise the people who have become the lifeblood of the economy.  She noted that many that come and work at the FTZs and EPZs are living in hostels that accommodate people from various factories.  “Hostels in the EPZs and FTZs house persons from four to five factories, so if one person from one factory gets infected, before long, the virus can spread to the other factories through the first contacts. People who worked for many of the factories had worked during the lockdown period as well, as the Government had named it as an essential service,” Dandeniya elaborated.  Sharing one of the testimonies, Dandeniya said that a company had asked one of its employees not to report to work after they had discovered that a hosteller at the Next garment factory was residing at the same accommodation. Many from the Next garment factory have tested positive for Covid-19 now, but the public health inspectors (PHIs) had only asked the persons at the hostel to observe self-quarantine. So far, none of the persons who shared the communal spaces at the hostel with the Covid-19-positive patient or his roommate have been subjected to PCR tests.  This group had then gone to the school in Amandoluwa providing nasopharyngeal swab samples for PCR testing, since they were requested to turn up if they were close contacts of anyone that was tested positive at the time or worked or lived in the same premises. However, the authorities had only taken samples from the employees who worked at the factory premises and had asked the others to return to their accommodation.  “On 17 October they did PCR tests and by 19 October the report of one of those children turned out to be positive for Covid-19. So, in the evening, a group including the area PHI came and took the person who tested positive away. On their way out, they put up a poster on our gate indicating that the persons in the premises were asked to self-quarantine. The other person who was in the same room with the person who tested positive is still in the hostel,” Dandeniya noted.  She noted that one of the hostellers had reported that no one was sent to even disinfect the premises. “They all use the same well and the same toilets. Who can they tell about these issues? On the one hand, they are afraid for their own lives and think that they might be carrying the virus by now and on the other hand, they had no way to go out and were running out of rations.”  Govt. steps in   [caption id="attachment_102366" align="alignleft" width="300"] Buses deployed to Brandix Minuwangoda to transport staff to Quarantine Centres, 07 October 2020[/caption] Dandeniya also said that they were quite disappointed about the way the employers were not proactively assisting the Government's efforts in sending people to quarantine centres or asking them to observe home-quarantine, looking after the wellbeing of the employees who are stuck in isolated zones, or even providing the necessary assistance in conducting sample collection for PCR testing.  “If each factory owner had arranged for their respective employees to undergo the necessary health screening and facilitate the nasopharyngeal swab sample submission to the health authorities at their factories itself, the whole calamity that happened at the Amandoluwa school could have been avoided. That was the least they could have done for the sake of their employees, who were forced to report to work even when they were experiencing flu-like symptoms.”  Meanwhile, last week, with the entire Gampaha District being placed under quarantine curfew, the Government had finally arranged the distribution of dry ration packs, a Rs. 5,000 relief allowance, and a nutrition pack for schoolchildren within the District.  Factory lacked safety measures  About 100-200 workers who contracted the flu in early September went to the factory's sick room and complained about it, where they were told that this was a normal virus. When those workers asked for sick leave, the management refused to grant them leave and ordered them to report to work.  In a joint comment made by Brandix factory workers, they said: “We have a question as to why the PHIs have not been notified despite so many cases of viral flu being reported. We suspect that the administration may have ignored this due to a shipment emergency. Many of us presumed that the workers were falling ill due to exhaustion of being overworked.”  One of the things that were talked about among the workers who came for the PCR test on Monday (12) was that they were turning off their phones because some workers were asking officials why they had not taken appropriate action.  Workers said that although some limited measures had been taken to prevent the spread of the virus after the lockdown, almost everything was now relaxed and disinfectant or hand washing facilities were negligible. 

Brandix responds  A spokesperson for Brandix speaking to The Sunday Morning Business section  had explained that the company has put in place health and safety protocols based on the regulatory authorities of Sri Lanka, including the protocol for the prevention and control of Covid-19 across all their facilities. They explained that the disease is new and evolving, and that they are still learning about the efficacy of their processes. Brandix is to conduct their independent investigation to understand whether there were any lapses on the company's part that took place at their  Minuwangoda plant in following the standards mentioned, and also the new controls that would be needed to augment our current processes to ensure the prevention and control of Covid-19. The company is currently working with the regulatory authorities of Sri Lanka to implement the new recommendations to facilitate a sustainable operating model for the apparel industry in a Covid-19- prevalent environment. Adoption of continuous random PCR testing at all their plants, the recommended hostel operating model for their associates, and the additional controls in the recruitment process which includes comprehensive screening and PCR testing are some of  the new practices they currently working towards implementing.

Factories adopt additional precautions  Following the recent Covid-19 outbreak which has hampered not only the apparel sector but even other companies functioning within the EPZs and FTZs situated in the Gampaha and Colombo Districts, the Joint Apparel Association Forum Sri Lanka (JAAFSL) agreed to adopt several extra precautionary guidelines.  JAAFSL Secretary General Tuli Cooray, speaking to The Sunday Morning, said: “The entire world is still learning about the nature of this disease and it is unfair to stigmatise or blame anyone at this point. We are always looking out for the wellbeing of our employees and are constantly subjected to compliance checks. Therefore, within the workplace, we always follow the best practices.”  [caption id="attachment_102363" align="alignleft" width="150"] JAAFSL Secretary General Tuli Cooray[/caption] The JAAFSL, following a discussion they had with the health services authorities, agreed to adopt several extra precautions from now on.  “There are some steps that are not in our control, such as instructing accommodation providers to only house workers from one factory. That is something we will have to consider in the long term. Other than that, most of the other suggestions can be set in motion with immediate effect.”  Elaborating on the measures that are now in place, Cooray added that factories have now been instructed to do temperature checks three times within a shift. In addition, if any worker shows symptoms of a cold or has a high temperature, they are to be referred for medical attention and are to be isolated until they are moved to a health facility. With concerns of continuing operations and not hindering their production work, the Government had also instructed that the factory workers be given transport to and from the workplace.  “Many of our members do utilise factory-provided transport facilities for their employees, so this is not an issue or a new practice that they have to adapt to. But with the quarantine curfew that is in place in certain areas, we have now informed workers who are required to travel to work from those areas that they are not required to report to work; that way, we can assist the Government in its attempts to prevent the spread of this virus,” Cooray noted further.  While it would affect their output at this moment, Cooray explained that it is better to assist the Government in their efforts to reduce the amount of people getting unnecessarily exposed to the virus by requesting people not to take a risk and travel through such areas.  When asked about the requirement that the BOI had suggested to get 5% of the workforce to be randomly tested on a weekly basis through named private hospitals, Cooray explained that it is impractical given that their testing capacities would not be able to handle such a large batch of samples, be it private or state hospitals.  “However, if the health authorities would make the rapid antigen test facility available which is able to determine whether a person is carrying the virus or not, then whoever is infected can undergo the PCR test; that would help reduce the work required to obtain nasopharyngeal swab samples for testing,” Cooray opined.  The JAAFSL vowed that they are willing to co-operate with the healthcare authorities and the Government in containing this virus and at the same time ensured that none of their workforce is forced to work under conditions that would risk their health and wellbeing at any moment.  Letter sent to Minister of Labour  A letter has been sent to Minister of Labour Nimal Siripala de Silva highlighting the issues faced by employees at the trade zones: PCR testing is conducted on trade zone workers in Katunayake, Biyagama, and Koggala, who are then taken to quarantine centres.  Following the discussion of the Tripartite Task Force Committee on 12 October 2020 on the steps to be taken regarding the infected, to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the Katunayake FTZ area and other industrial areas, the collective suggested that the following steps be implemented or adopted to protect the Katunayake FTZ as well as other EPZs of the Board of Investment (BOI), such as the Biyagama, Avissawella, Horana, and Wathupitiwala EPZs: 

• Pre-preparation of quarantine areas for employees who may be subject to inspection in all EPZs 
• Establishment of health committees comprising employees' representatives in each factory to recommend to the Department of Labour and the BOI, a timely schedule to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and to make all employees aware of the pandemic 
• Make hostel owners aware of the steps to be taken to disinfect the hostels to prevent the pandemic spread 
• Five PCR machines were randomly assigned to each institution. The Government's decision to investigate is not enough to gauge the current situation, so 10 out of every 100 employees will be randomly assigned to PCR tests in the next two weeks. A decision should be made that employers should take responsibility to test the employees 
• As four factories in the Katunayake FTZ have been temporarily closed due to the identification of infected persons and since most of the staff working in the hostels are located in nearby hostels, the relevant companies must be advised to provide them with the required salaries and other facilities, including food and beverages 
• The manpower agencies that have employees in these factories must work to implement all of the above steps without any changes and a decision must be made that the companies they last worked for should pay and provide the necessary facilities to those employees as well 
• With regard to the employees recruited in these institutions by manpower agencies and other persons, a programme should be implemented to ensure that the required information is maintained properly and the BOI should take full responsibility for it 
• Tripartite committees with representation of public and private parties and trade unions, with direct involvement to inquire into the proper implementation of the above steps and instructions, must be appointed 

Photos Pradeep Dambarage