I rent 5400 square feet (but pay for 8,000 square feet) in an Export Processing Zone in Chittagong, Bangladesh. The rent is comparable to UK rent somewhere like the Midlands, so it is really high for Bangladesh. But we have the privilage of fairly regular electrity and water. We are also safe from general extortionists who prey on businesses outside the EPZ.
The building is old but generally quite nice. We have fifteen feet ceilings and walls a foot thick which keep us quite cool even during the hottest season. I was a bit shocked to find that part of a concrete structure above one of the buildings had partially collapsed the night before last. About 20 kilos of masonry and concrete had come down during the night. I should have immediately reported it but hadn’t gotten around to doing so. This was a mistake.
This morning I came and found this
Collapse above entrance. Click for a larger image.
This would have killed anyone passing into the building at the time of collapse. Here is another view from inside.
View from inside. On the right you can just see the entrance way to my painting studio.
I don’t know the reason for the collapse. It could be due to recent heavy rains acting on an old structure. It could also be due to the activity of a next door godown (warehouse) where a local company has been storing HUGE rolls of card for making carboard cartons. When these things are off loaded everything jumps with the impact.
These are huge rolls of card for making cardboard cartons. It takes a team of half a dozen men to move one.
This activity has destroyed our loading bay over the past couple of weeks
Bangladesh Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) Loading bay has been destroyed by heavy loads
I’ve persuaded all of my people to use the entrance on the other side of the building. I’ve written to the General Manager of the CEPZ informing him about the situation. He is very active and I’m sure he will take care of this quickly and properly. If this happened outside an EPZ no action would be taken until people were killed.
If this happened in the west people would be rushing heading for the hills and calling their local MP. But living in Bangladesh is so dangerous that people become desensitised. I have a large collection of pictures of crashes and pile ups that have occurred as I drive to and from work.
People here don’t hesitate to put toxic ingredients into all kinds of food if it makes them cheaper. I used to belong to a club which served foreign alcohol (only clubs can sell booze here.) The member in charge of the bar watered the drinks down so much you could hardly tell the original contents. Someone like this won’t hesitate to give the watered down mix a “kick” by introducing an ingredient which will cause illness as a side effect. So that I am sure my life will be 5-10 years shorter for having lived here. One of my friends recently died of Cancer which suddenly took him when he went back to the US to take care of his wife’s cancer treatment. The only reason that Cancer rates are not higher in Bangladesh is because people die so early of heart disease.
This doesn’t give rise to morbid thoughts in Bangladesh. Instead it leaves people with a “don’t worry be happy” mentality.