Bogura phial makers seek government help

Thousands of people engaged in 400 glass bottle industries in Shihori and Dumuri villages under Adamdighi upazila of Bogura found a unique means of employing themselves with little or no assistance from the government.

They made small phials at the factories and supplied mainly for bottling homeopathy medicines. The bottles were shipped to different parts of the country. The bottles worth over Tk100 crore were sold in a year.

But, most of factories have remained closed over the last two years due to manifold reasons including Covid-19, lack of capital, pricey raw materials and increasing of plastic manufacturing.

The business first began 40 years ago with an investment of only Tk 1,000 from a lone entrepreneur who changed the socio-economic status of the people in the area.

Md Mozmmel Haque, pioneer of the business, said the homeopathy medicine bottles attracted warm responses from across the country for low prices and durability. Opportunities of exports to neighbouring countries, including India also opened.

The business boomed into a sector that boasts of almost Tk100 crore a year, he added.

The government assistance is urgently needed to save the industry now, he added.

The villagers established more 200 industries in Shihori village and 200 in Dumuri which catered to the needs of almost 70 per cent of the total phial market in the country.

Raw materials came from Kanchpur in Naraynganj.

The small phials were sent to several districts including Dhaka, Chattogram, Jhenidhah, Khulna and Panchagarh.

The villagers say now everything is lost glory for them as the industries have remained in dire situation over the last two years.

Md Abu Saleh, a trader in Shihori said, he had sold bottles in wholesale markets for the last 10 years and made good profit. He has no works over the last two years.

When this correspondent visited the area few days ago, he found only 20-25 workers were seen making phials in three factories. The other factories remained closed.

Jahid Hasan, a young man of Dumuri village, said his father established three factories in the village. Over 150 workers were working in the factories down the years. But they could run the business till 2020. Now the factories are closed due to lack of capital.

Md Dulal Sikder, who worked in a factory, said he was able to meet all his family expenses with his earnings. But now he is jobless.

Shamsul Haque, chairman of Nashratpur Union, urged the government to save the industries.

When contacted, AKM Mahfuzur Rahman, deputy manager of Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation said, “We will support the industry people who have lost the business due to Covid-19 and lack of capital.”