ILO to name unsafe Cambodia garment factories
May 23rd, 2013, Radio Free Asia, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Disasters & Disaster Management, Garment Industry, Industry, Infrastructure, International Relations, Labor, Social Concerns
The ILO is preparing to name Cambodian garment factories failing to comply with local safety requirements. …
The International Labour Organisation says Cambodian garment factories refusing to comply with safety requirements have one last chance before they are named and shamed.
Jill Tucker, chief technical advisor for the ILO’s Better Factories Cambodia program, has told Radio Australia’s Asia Pacific some factories in the country have made no effort to comply with local labour laws. …
She says the ILO is urging the Cambodian government to engage in more enforcement activities with factories refusing to comply with labour laws.
“In terms of building safety, we’re strongly recommending that all factories undertake an independent assessment,” she said. …
Ms Tucker says there are other health and safety concerns for Cambodia’s garment industry, including the inability of factories to keep up with the rapid growth of the sector.
“It’s becoming too expensive to produce garments in China,” Ms Tucker said.
“I would say that the majority of the growth in Cambodia is due to the haemorrhaging of orders outside of China.”
Radio Free Asia Staff
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2013-05-23/ilo-to-name-unsafe-cambodia-garment-factories/1134850
H&M Says Garments Made in Cambodian Factory Without Approval
May 22nd, 2013, Bloomberg, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Economics, Exports, Garment Industry, Industry, Infrastructure, International Relations, Labor, Production, Social Concerns, Trade
Hennes & Mauritz AB, Europe’s second-biggest clothing retailer, said some H&M garments were produced without its knowledge or approval at a factory in Cambodia where workers were injured in a partial building collapse this week.
A supplier of the Stockholm-based company placed two minor orders with an unapproved sub-supplier at the Hong Kong-owned Top World garment factory, H&M spokeswoman Anna Eriksson said today in an e-mailed response to questions. She said H&M has no business relations with the plant, where a shelter collapsed into a river injuring at least 23 people, according to Xinhua. …
H&M isn’t the first retailer to discover its products are made in factories that escape its scrutiny as suppliers hire subcontractors without their knowledge when rushing to fill orders. When clothing bound for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) and Sears Holdings Corp. was found in the ruins of a fatal factory blaze in Bangladesh last year, the companies said their goods were manufactured there without their permission. …
Katarina Gustafsson
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-22/h-m-says-garments-made-in-cambodian-factory-without-approval.html
Abused women’s support services to expand
May 22nd, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Labor, News Source, Social Concerns
Helping women find better employment opportunities is key to ensuring they feel able to report rape and sexual abuse, government and civil society representatives said yesterday.
Although Cambodian courts are prosecuting an increasing number of cases involving violence against women, economic concerns stop many from reporting all but the most extreme abuse, officials said. …
As part of the action plan, the ministry hopes to expand a program of one-stop service centres currently based in Siem Reap and Kampong Thom provinces, which offer victims healthcare, legal and social consultation and career training. …
Justine Drennan and Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052265772/National/abused-women-s-support-services-to-expand.html
Trafficked numbers rising
May 22nd, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Business & Commercial Development, International Relations, Labor, News Source, Social Concerns
Their stories have become all too familiar – Cambodian fishermen enslaved on fishing boats after being promised lucrative jobs overseas. They’re also becoming increasingly common.
Anti-trafficking NGOs told the Post this week that they have noticed an exponential increase in the number of trafficking complaints from fishermen trapped abroad.
In the past two years, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) aided in the repatriation of just over 100 Cambodians. But in just the first five months of 2013, the IOM has assisted in the return of 63 Cambodians – mostly from Malaysia, Indonesia and Mauritius. …
Two weeks ago, Taiwanese national Lin Yu Shin, 53, was arrested in Siem Reap on charges of trafficking Cambodians onto Taiwanese fishing trawlers off the coast of Africa.
According to the Association of Cambodian Recruitment Agencies, Lin’s company – Giant Ocean International Fishery – had already been operating for several years before it obtained its Ministry of Labour licence in 2009, and was part of a bigger network that dealt with partners in Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The Community Legal Education Centre (CLEC), estimates the company trafficked some 1,000 Cambodians. …
Danson Cheong
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052265773/National/trafficked-numbers-rising.html
Standards Building Up Safety Fears
May 22nd, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Garment Industry, Industry, Infrastructure, Labor, News Source, Social Concerns
When a 100-metre-long section of a Phnom Penh garment factory crumpled in on itself like a cheap pup tent, Sen Sok district officials promised an investigation. …
The results of that investigation, which was to have taken place more than a year ago, in March 2012, were never made public, and officials at the time refused to release the names of those who owned the land the building sat on or the firm responsible for its construction. …
As one long-time real estate consultant put it: “It’s really waiting for the disasters to happen.”
Yesterday morning, on the sidelines of a conference on national industrial relations, a Ministry of Labor official reiterated Social Affairs Minister Ith Sam Heng promise to inspect all of Cambodia’s factories. …
According to the consultant, foreign construction companies who are accustomed to high levels of oversight often maintain those standards when operating in Cambodia. …
“You may have a system in place, you may have a procedure in place, but it may all be hollow. It may just be a show,” he continued. “So even if there is a department in the construction department or the ministry – at the minute there isn’t one – but even if there is one, it’s hard to tell how this country really enforces all that construction safety.”
Van Thol, vice president of the Building and Wood Workers Trade Union Federation of Cambodia (BWTUC), said that while he believes there are inspectors, he doesn’t necessarily believe they do their job. …
“Licensed construction companies are hired by a factory to do its construction, but those licensed firms rent out other, smaller, unlicensed construction firms to build it, and they don’t really follow the standards,” he said. …
Stuart White and Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052265780/National/standards-building-up-safety-fears.html
At 10th Anniversary, Arbitration Council Faces Funding Shortage
May 22nd, 2013, The Cambodia Daily, Garment Industry, Industry, International Relations, Labor, Social Concerns, Technical Assistance
The Arbitration Council, an independent body that resolves labor disputes in Cambodia’s garment sector, celebrated its 10th anniversary yesterday, though officials expressed concern that funding for the body was due to run out in March next year.
Oum Mean, secretary of state at the Ministry of Labor, said the Arbitration Council currently receives all its funding from the World Bank’s good governance project and that more funds are needed to ensure the body–which has resolved nearly 1,500 industrial disputes, survives. …
Speaking after the conference, Mr. Mean said it was not the responsibility of the government to fund the body but that of the Arbitration Council itself. …
In the 10 years since funding for the International Labor Organization helped establish the Arbitration Council, it has resolved nearly 1,500 industrial disputes involving more than 600,00 workers. It also claims an 80 percent success rate in preventing strikes during negotiations.
Simon Henderson
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/at-10th-anniversary-arbitration-council-faces-funding-shortage-25887/
Seven Feared Trapped in Gold Mine Collapse
May 21st, 2013, VOA Khmer, Construction, Disasters & Disaster Management, Environment & Natural Resources, Extractive Industries, Industry, International Relations, Labor, Mining
A gold mine shaft has collapsed in Preah Vihear province, trapping at least seven miners, officials said Monday. …
The collapse took place in a shaft that is typically mined by up to 60 people at a time, he [Rovieng Police Chief Sin Thorn].
Sin Thorn said he has warned villagers against mining there in the past, “but they never listen to my advice.” …
Romtum Commune Chief Prak Sokhun said rescue efforts are underway. Local police and others are trying to dig out the landslide that they believe is cutting off the exit to the shaft.
A district police officer who asked not to be named said there have been similar incidents of smaller scale at the mine in the past, some of them fatal, but Monday’s collapse has trapped more people that other similar incidents.
Suy Heimkhemra
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/seven-feared-trapped-in-gold-mine-collapse/1664837.html
Fear Remains as Factory Reopens
May 21st, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Disasters & Disaster Management, Garment Industry, Industry, Labor, News Source, Social Concerns
More than 20 people fainted yesterday at the Wing Star Shoes factory in Kampong Speu province, where two workers were crushed to death in a ceiling collapse last Thursday.
Workers and union officials said an electrical short-circuit scared workers returning for the first time since the tragedy.
Hong Seng Lim, president of the Development Movement Union of Cambodia Labour at Wing Star, said 21 workers were taken to hospital, but their conditions weren’t serious.
“An electric short-circuit made a loud noise, scaring workers and causing them to run out of the factory.”
Wing Star, a supplier to Japanese brand Asics, allowed its 7,000 workers the rest of the day off, Seng Lim said. …
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052165744/National/fear-remains-as-factory-reopens.html
Factory Dining Hall Collapses in Phnom Penh; 23 injured
May 21st, 2013, The Cambodia Daily, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Disasters & Disaster Management, Garment Industry, Industry, Infrastructure, International Relations, Labor, Social Concerns
The dining hall of a garment factory in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district that supplies clothes to U.S. brand Gap collapsed into a pond Monday, injuring more than 20 workers who were eating lunch, workers and officials said.
The hall, which is part of Top World Garment (Cambodia) Ltd. in Kbal Koh commune but outside the main building, collapsed at 11:40 a.m., according to commune police chief Mao Rith. …
The accident comes only five days after another factory in Kompong Speu province experienced a ceiling collapse that left two workers dead. Government and factory officials yesterday said the Taiwanese-owned Wing Star Shoes Co. Ltd. was safe enough for staff to go back to work.
“Tomorrow, the workers will return to work so that the production chain will not be affected,” said Oum Mean, secretary of state at the Ministry of Labor. …
Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) election candidate Mu Sochua… said the CNRP is demanding a transparent inspection of Wing Star Shoes, as well as all the other factories in the country.
She also called for the prosecution of all the individuals who were involved in the oversight of the building’s illegal construction. …
Chin Chan and Chhorn Chansy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/factory-dining-hall-collapses-in-phnom%E2%80%88penh-23-injured-25558/
Cambodians Abroad Sent Home $256M Last Year
May 21st, 2013, The Cambodia Daily, Banking & Finance, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Financial Services, Industry, International Relations, Labor, Production
Cambodian migrant workers sent home $256 million last year, according to a report from a U.N. agency and the World Bank, which was released in Bangkok yesterday.
The report from the bank and Rome-based International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), titled Sending Money Home to Asia, found that migrants from Asia sent a total of $260 billion in international remittances in 2012. …
“[B]ut high [bank] fees and limited financial services outside of urban areas are reducing the benefits of those remittances for millions of rural residents,” says a joint statement accompanying the report.
The report does not specifically outline how serious these problems are in Cambodia, which received $256 million, or 1.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), in remittances last year. Workers sending money home are charged on average 5.59 percent on remittances to Cambodia, the report says. ….
But the report notes Cambodia’s high saturation of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the provinces means that rural access to remittances is likely better than elsewhere.
MFI’s account for 26 percent of transfers to Cambodia, but the costs for these transfers average 10 percent of the amount being sent, the report says. …
Moeun Tola, head of the labor program at the Community Legal Education Center, said many migrant workers, especially those working in Thailand send money back through informal channels, which would not be included in the report. …
Simon Lewis
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/cambodians-abroad-sent-home-256m-last-year-25574/
Accident rocks garment industry again
May 20th, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Business & Commercial Development, Disasters & Disaster Management, Foreign Investment, Garment Industry, Industry, Labor, News Source
For the second time in five days, Cambodia’s garment industry has been rocked by another partial collapse of a structure at a factory.
Garment workers are reporting that at least 10 people, including a pregnant woman, have been injured after a concrete platform collapsed into a pond at the back of the Top World Garment (Cambodia) Ltd. factory on the outskirts of Phnom Penh at about midday today. …
Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052065721/National/accident-rocks-garment-industry-again.html
Investments in Cambodia Up
May 20th, 2013, The Cambodia Herald, Agriculture & Agri-business, Banking & Finance, Business & Commercial Development, Economics, Energy, Exports, Foreign Investment, Imports, Industry, International Relations, Labor, News Source, Telecommunications, Tourism, Trade
Vietnam’s investment in Cambodia has increased significantly in the last three years, but a mechanism to encourage and oversee investments in prioritized sectors is needed, according to diplomatic sources.
Tan Nguyen Tien, head of the economic section at the Vietnamese embassy in Phnom Penh, said Vietnam’s investments in Cambodia quadrupled from $566 million in 41 projects in 2010 to $2.5 billion last year. …
Tien said Vietnam Airlines’ direct services between the two countries and Viettel’s telecom service in Cambodia have helped boost Vietnamese investment in that country. …
There are also four projects in the energy sector with a total investment of nearly $800 million, five in finance-banking with $250 million, one telecom project capitalized at $150 million, and a civil aviation project worth $100 million.
Vietnamese FDI in Cambodia is expected to top $4 billion by 2015, and trade between the countries to increase from $3 billion last year to $5 billion by 2015. …
The Cambodia Herald Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=NjA1NjRhYTIxOTd
‘Take it or leave it’
May 20th, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Garment Industry, Industry, Labor, News Source
The uncle of a man who died in Thursday’s ceiling collapse at the Wing Star Shoes factory in Kampong Speu province claimed yesterday that the company had threatened to give the family nothing if they did not agree to an on-the-spot payout.
It came as a government official said the two families who lost loved ones in the collapse were not eligible for state compensation beyond funeral costs.
Rim Rorn, 29, uncle of Rim Roeun, 22, who died in the Kong Pisei district factory, a supplier to Asics, said talks between his family and factory representatives had broken down. …
Roeun and co-worker Kim Dany, who was initially identified by police and family members as Sim Srey Touch, were crushed to death when an overloaded storage level collapsed, sending concrete, steel and stock crashing onto the walkway beneath. …
Korn Vet, 44, the father of Kim Dany, said company representatives had already paid his family $6,500 for a funeral. …
Sok Sam Oeun, executive director of the Cambodia Defenders Project, said it was unlikely, though, that anyone would be charged.
“If we are talking about . . . it being a criminal [case] of voluntary or involuntary manslaughter, someone must [be proven] to have intended to commit a crime,” he said. “They do not have any law relating to neglect or illegal construction . . . I think there is only compensation.” …
Chhay Channyda and Shane Worrell
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052065719/National/take-it-or-leave-it.html
Factory Orders Staff Back to Work Amid Safety Concerns
May 20th, 2013, The Cambodia Daily, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Disasters & Disaster Management, Garment Industry, Industry, Infrastructure, International Relations, Labor, Social Concerns
Employees at a Taiwanese-owned shoe factory in Kompong Speu province where two workers were killed when one of the building’s floors collapsed on Thursday have been ordered back to work today, despite ongoing concerns from labor activists about the building’s safety.
While conceding that some parts of the building—including the section that collapsed—had been built without a permit and were potentially unstable, an official for the provincial department of land management said Sunday that workers could safely return to work as “warning signs” would be erected to avert employees from parts of the factory still deemed unsafe.
“There are two illegal extensions to the building, which have to be removed,” said Mam Narey, bureau chief of the provincial construction department. “We cannot keep them because it is very dangerous for the workers.” …
The mezzanine level of the Wing Star Shoes Co. Ltd. in Kong Pisei district collapsed on Thursday morning, crushing workers who were arriving at the factory. According to the authorities, steel beams holding up the concrete flooring buckled under the weight of boxes of shoes due to shoddy construction done without a permit. …
“Safe and ethical working conditions are of paramount importance to ASICS. We have launched our own investigation into the cause of the incident in full cooperation with the relevant authorities. In addition to our ASICS staff already on site, two representatives plus related people from ASICS corporation headquarters will travel to Phnom Penh and personally evaluate progress of investigations,” said Katsumi Funakoshi, general manager of public relations department for ASICS.
“The decision to re-open or continue to work with this factory would be considered after the result of investigation by ourselves, by the third party and by the government,” he added. …
“Just like in a house, when you build a small roof for the dog, and if that small roof collapses, you will not suggest that the whole house is going to collapse,” [ Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia chairman] Mr. [Van] Sou Leng said. …
He also said that the paying of money to families of the dead and injured over the weekend was “insulting.”
“There’s the criminal aspect of an illegal construction that resulted in the death of workers,” Mr. Welsh said. “To think that they are offering money to families over the weekend to prevent the criminal suit is ludicrous and frankly should not stand.”
According to Ms. Hour, the factory representative, nine of the injured workers who went to Calmette Hospital had received $1,700 each. Victims with minor injuries at the district referral hospital received $550 each, she said.
“For each dead victim, the factory donated $6,500 to each family to hold the funeral,” Ms. Hour said. “We wanted to negotiate compensation with them but right now, they don’t want to talk. They need time.” …
Chhorn Chansy and Dene-Hern Chen
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/factory-orders-staff-back-to-work-amid-safety-concerns-25192/
Court takes another crack at Bandith case
May 20th, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Business & Commercial Development, Garment Industry, Industry, Labor, News Source
Unions representing more than 15,000 members have called for justice for three women ahead of round two of legal action against their alleged shooter, deposed Bavet town governor Chhouk Bandith.
Bandith, who is accused of shooting the three workers during a protest at a factory in Svay Rieng province in February last year, will face the provincial court once again tomorrow on charges of causing “unintentional violence”.
The Cambodian Labour Confederation and the Cambodian Confederation of Unions issued a statement on Friday urging the court to convict Bandith, send him to prison and make him pay compensation. …
May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052065718/National/court-takes-another-crack-at-bandith-case.html
ASICS Wants Monitoring Of Cambodian Sub-Contractors After Accident
May 17th, 2013, The Nation, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Disasters & Disaster Management, Economics, Garment Industry, Industry, Infrastructure, International Relations, Labor, Social Concerns
The Japanese athletics brand ASICS said Friday that it would push its four Cambodian sub-contractors to join a programme that monitors conditions in garment and shoe factories. …
“We will strongly request to our sub-contractors in Cambodia to sign up to this programme,” Katsumi Funakoshi, ASICS spokesman, said by email. …
The Better Factories Cambodia programme, which is voluntary, was set up in 2001 and is run by the International Labour Organization. It monitors factories making clothing and shoes for export to ensure they comply with a range of issues, such as fire safety, working conditions and prompt payment of wages.
Thursday’s accident showed the programme should also monitor factory construction, its chief technical adviser, Jill Tucker, said. …
She called on the hundreds of buyers from other countries that source from Cambodia, including Japan, to take responsibility for the factories where their products were made and join the initiative. …
The Nation Staff
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/ASICS-wants-monitoring-of-Cambodian-sub-contractor-30206398.html
Cambodia sends 4,779 laborers abroad in Q1
May 17th, 2013, Global Times, Industry, International Relations, Labor, Social Concerns
Cambodia has dispatched 4,779 workers to Thailand, South Korea and Japan in the first three months of this year, according to a report from the Ministry of Labor on Friday.
During the January-March period this year, the country sent 4, 100 workers to Thailand, 678 workers to South Korea, and one worker to Japan, the report said.
Cambodian laborers work in industries and construction in Thailand, in the fields of manufacture, agriculture, construction and fishing in South Korea, and in small-sized industries in Japan. …
Currently, about 125,000 Cambodian laborers are working legally in Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia and Japan. Those migrant workers have sent home about 200 million US dollars a year, the Ministry of Labor said. …
Xinhua News Staff
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/782384.shtml#.UZmh4KKj2xA
Malaysian couple jailed for starving maid to death
May 17th, 2013, The Cambodia Daily, International Relations, Labor, Social Concerns
A Malaysian Court yesterday sentenced a couple to 24 years in jail for culpable homicide after their Cambodian maid starved to death while working for them in their home on the northwest coast of Penag, Agence France Press (AFP) reported. …
Cambodian opposition lawmaker and former Minister of Women’s Affairs Mu Sochua yesterday welcomed the sentence, saying it was a positive sign as it marked the first time the Malaysian authorities had put anyone on trail following the abuse or death of a Cambodian domestic worker in that country. …
In October 2011, Prime Minister Hun Sen banned the sending of Cambodian domestic workers to Malaysia after mounting reports of abuse and generally harsh and inhumane working conditions. …
Since the moratorium on sending workers to Malaysia, both countries said they would work on an agreement to protect Cambodian workers in Malaysia.
An initial draft by Malaysia was much-criticized for not including, for example, rules on minimum wage. …
Denise Hruby, P.19
www.cambodiadaily.com
After Factory Collapse, Questions Mount Over ILO Monitoring
May 17th, 2013, The Cambodia Daily, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Disasters & Disaster Management, Garment Industry, Industry, Infrastructure, International Relations, Labor, Social Concerns
Labor rights activists and a government official accused the International Labor Organization’s Better Factories Cambodia program of ineffectiveness in its monitoring of factory conditions following a deadly ceiling collapse on Thursday at a shoe factory in Kompong Speu province.
Moeun Tola, labor program head of the Community Legal Education Center, a labor rights group, said that Better Factories Cambodia had failed workers by not disclosing the names of factories that flout the country’s laws on factory health and safety. …
In February, a team of Stanford University Law School researchers published a report titled Monitoring in the Dark, charging that the lack of transparency in the Better Factories program had actually set back garment industry standards for Cambodian workers, compared to their counterparts in China, Indonesia and Vietnam.
The researchers also said that the ILO’s “confidential reporting practice” reduces incentives for factory owners and international brands to improve working conditions in Cambodian factories. …
Authorities yesterday said the ceiling collapse in the Wing Star Factory-which produces running shoes for the Japanese spots brand Asics-was due to dangerous building practices. …
Jill Tucker, technical adviser for Better Factories Cambodia, said her program did not monitor the Wing Star factory “in any capacity,” as the monitoring of footwear factories by the ILO program only started last year. …
Regarding the ILO’s decision not to name factories that flout safety regulations, Ms. Tucker defended the way the program operates.
“We are in the process [of] taking programmatic steps toward publicly releasing some non-compliance information and the name of the factory it is connected to,” she said.
The Better Factories program also does not monitor factory construction standards, although Ms. Tucker said that issues such as electrical wiring, overloading on platforms and pathway obstructions are recorded. …
Dene-Hern Chen and Kaing Menghun,
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/after-factory-collapse-questions-mount-over-ilo-monitoring-24860/
Cambodian factory deaths shine spotlight on conditions
May 16th, 2013, DW, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Disasters & Disaster Management, Garment Industry, Industry, Infrastructure, International Relations, Labor, Social Concerns
The deaths of at least two Cambodian workers and injuries sustained by 10 colleagues at a shoe factory southwest of Phnom Penh once more shine a light on conditions in the global garment manufacturing industry.
Thursday’s accident at the Wing Star Shoe factory in the Cambodian capital took place when a section of ceiling collapsed onto a group of several dozen workers. The factory, which has 7,000 staff, is contracted to manufacture shoes for Japanese athletics brand ASICS. …
Dave Welsh, the country director at the American Center for International Labor Solidarity, a labour group, visited Wing Star on Thursday and said it looked as though the ceiling at the Taiwanese-owned factory had been “badly overloaded” with materials. …
Garment and shoe manufacturing is now a pillar of Cambodia’s economy: Exports last year, most of which went to the European Union and the United States, brought in 4.6 billion US dollars.
The industry is also the largest formal employer with more than 350,000 workers. …
[Secretary-general of Garment Manufacturers' Association in Cambodia Ken Loo] was quick to separate what happened in Cambodia with the disaster in Bangladesh, and said the ceiling collapse was not indicative of a systemic problem: instead the deaths and injuries at Wing Star, which is a GMAC member, looked more like the consequence of shoddy construction. …
Jill Tucker, the BFC’s chief technical adviser, said although Thursday’s accident was uncommon it had highlighted the need for factories to adhere to building standards too. …
Deutsche Welle Staff
http://www.dw.de/cambodian-factory-deaths-shine-spotlight-on-conditions/a-16819017