The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, the North American retailers’ group has cut business relations with five more readymade garment factories (RMG) based in Dhaka and Chittagong citing that the factory authorities have failed to make their establishments safer for their workers.

According to the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, relations with four factories have been suspended due to their failure in complying with government-set review panel’s recommendations. The Alliance cut relations with another one due to its failure in making adequate remediation progress.

The suspended five factories are: AMC Sweater in Gazipur, Darda Knit Wears at Ashulia and Maggie and Liz Corporation (PVT), Maks Fashion and Montex Apparels in Chittagong. So far, the total number of the suspended supplier factories by the Alliance reached to 31.

After the Rana Plaza building collapse, which killed more than 1,100 people, mostly garment workers, in April 2013, North American retailers, including top brands Walmart and Gap, formed the Alliance and European retailers formed the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh undertaking a five-year plan which set timelines and accountability for inspections and training and workers’ empowerment programmes. The Alliance has so far inspected 870 factories while the Accord inspected more than 1,600 supplier factories.