Water booths installed for RMG workers

Dhaka (Dec 5, 2020): The Japan Tobacco International (JTI) Foundation has installed two automated water booths to ensure safe drinking water to the apparel workers in Bangladesh.

The booths were set up under a project called ‘Shujola’ funded by the foundation as part of its ‘WASH’ programmes aiming to provide 1 million people with access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene in developing countries by 2025, said the JTI Foundation in a statement on Saturday.

The project is being implemented by Swisscontact Bangladesh, with its primary aim being to ensure access to safe water in RMG workers’ residential communities. This is the pilot phase of the project aiming to set up five water booths directly benefitting five entrepreneurs, through the seed fund provided by the project and establishment of the business.

On November 5, the first water booth named “Reshmi Drinking Water” was launched in the Chattogram Export Processing Zone area. On November 15, the second water booth called “Shuddho Drinking Water” was set up in the Gazipur’s Lakshmipur.

Both the Shuddho Drinking Water and Reshmi Drinking Water booths can produce around 1,000 litres of safe drinking water per hour.

Therefore, each booth can produce 8,000 litres of water daily considering an eight hour working day. Taking data from Shujola’s baseline study, it is estimated that the daily water requirement of an RMG worker is 2 litres. Therefore, each water booth can serve around 4,000 RMG workers or customers each on a regular working day.