The government has recruited 60 engineers to expedite the post-inspection remediation work in the readymade garment factories (RMGs), officials said.
The newly appointed engineers would work for the Remediation Coordination Cell (RCC) under the labour ministry.
They were appointed mainly to meet the December deadline set by the government for completing the remediation of garment factories inspected under the national initiative.
"Some 40 engineers have joined their duty on July 1 and 20 others the next day," said Inspector General of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) Md Shamsuzzaman Bhuiyan.
The International Labour Organisation will provide training to them before they start their work, he added.
Immediately after the Rana Plaza Building collapse in April 2013, several initiatives were taken to examine the condition of the buildings housing garment factories.
Some 3,780 factories were inspected under the initiatives taken by Western buyers' platforms-the Accord and the Alliance-and the government separately.
So far, remediation work in about 89 per cent of factories listed with the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, a platform of European retailers, has been completed.
The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a platform of North American buyers, has recorded 90 per cent of progress in this regard.
Meanwhile, 1,549 factories, out of 3,780, were inspected under the national initiative, according to the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE).
Of them, 573 factories were closed down, 79 relocated to other buildings and 130 units came under the initiatives of the Accord and the Alliance.
Currently, the DIFE is monitoring the remediation work in 755 factories through the RCC formed in May last year, its officials said.
Of 755 factories, about 165 units are yet to start remediation work while the progress rate in remediation of 192 factories is below 20 per cent.
The RCC has long been waiting to receive technical support from the ILO for the remediation work, but the support is yet to come, the DIFE chief said.
So, the labour ministry decided to strengthen the RCC with its own fund and placed a project proposal to the finance ministry.
In April, the ministry started the process to recruit 60 engineers for one year.
After the RCC get 47 more engineers from the ILO, the government would decide on whether the RCC would take over the responsibilities for safety of the garment factories from the Accord and the Alliance, Mr Bhuiyan added.
Recently, the government extended the deadline for remediation of garment units under the national initiative up to December, officials said.
