Ctg Port workers resume strike, authorities claim activities normal
Although no clashes had been reported since morning, Ibrahim Khokon, coordinator of the Port Protection Movement Council, alleged that two labour leaders were arrested by Detective Branch (DB) police late last night.
Chattogram Port Authority Chairman Rear Admiral S M Moniruzzaman has claimed that workers have joined work and port operations are running normally. However, shipping agents, customs agents, berth operators and ship-handling operators say all activities at the port's terminals, including container loading and unloading from vessels and cargo delivery, remain suspended.
Chattogram Port workers and employees resumed their indefinite strike this morning (8 February) after a two-day pause, demanding the cancellation of DP World's lease of the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT).
Cargo unloading from vessels anchored at the outer anchorage has also been halted since this morning.
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At a press briefing in front of the port building around 12:15pm, the port chairman said the port authority held a nearly two-hour meeting with workers in the morning, after which workers resumed duty. He warned that legal action would be taken against anyone obstructing work.
He reiterated that the port is operational and all activities are ongoing.
On the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) contract, the chairman said the initiative to hand over the terminal to a skilled foreign operator was taken to meet growing demand, enhance capacity, and remain competitive with international ports. Negotiations with DP World are still ongoing and will be placed before the cabinet once completed. The contract will be signed only after cabinet approval.
Denying any haste, he said the contract terms have been under preparation for the past one and a half years through the World Bank's IFC, followed by negotiations. "Had there been any rush, the contract could have been signed much earlier," he added.
Assuring that no agreement against national interest will be made, the chairman said the deal has not been finalised yet, but misinformation is being spread prematurely, creating public confusion.
Responding to reports about his removal, he said, "I just concluded a two-hour meeting with workers. If I had been removed, I wouldn't be here."
Rokonuddin Mahmud, port affairs secretary of the Bangladesh Customs Agents Association, said, "To our knowledge, no work is happening at the port. Importers and exporters are facing huge losses. We urge the government to waive port rent charged to importers due to the strike."
Sarwar Hossain Sagar, chairman of the Ship Handling and Berth Operators Association, said cargo unloading from around 80 mother vessels at the outer anchorage has been suspended since morning, while last-minute operations are underway on a few vessels waiting to depart.
Bangladesh Inland Container Depot Association (BICDA) Secretary General Ruhul Amin Sikder said no export cargo is moving from depots to the port, and no import cargo is coming from the port to depots. Currently, 13,483 TEUs are stuck at the depots, with another 1,400 TEUs expected to enter today.
According to port data, more than 41,000 containers are currently congested at terminal yards.
Strike begins again
The strike restarted at 8am, and as workers refrained from joining duties, all operations at the port's three terminals and outer anchorage have come to a complete halt.
Workers have taken positions at different locations across the port area. To reinforce security, a large number of law enforcement personnel have been deployed, along with armoured police vehicles and water cannons kept on standby. A tense situation is prevailing throughout the port area.
Although no clashes had been reported since morning, Ibrahim Khokon, coordinator of the Port Protection Movement Council, alleged that two labour leaders were arrested by Detective Branch (DB) police late Saturday night.
However, the Detective Branch of police and Port Police have not yet confirmed the arrests.
Meanwhile, a meeting between port workers and the Chattogram Port Authority chairman, scheduled to be held at the port auditorium at 9:30am, has yet to begin, as labour leaders announced a boycott of the meeting.
Another coordinator of the Port Protection Council, Humayun Kabir, alleged that members of the law enforcement agencies were forcibly picking up workers from their residences in the Port Colony area and taking them to the auditorium for the meeting.
Previously, after six consecutive days of work abstention, workers and employees resumed work for two days on Friday (6 February) following a high-stakes meeting with Shipping Adviser Brig Gen (retd) M Shakhawat Hossain. However, labour coordinators announced that the strike would resume from today unless the government retreats from its plan to lease NCT to Dubai-based DP World.
Meanwhile, Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) on Friday sought an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) into the movable and immovable assets of 15 port employees involved in the recent protest programmes, while also requesting a travel ban to prevent them from leaving the country.
In the letter, the CPA alleged the employees were involved in activities "against the state" and said investigations into their actions were already underway. It requested that relevant offices and agencies be informed to ensure the individuals are barred from travelling abroad.
The six-day continuous work stoppage led to container backlogs and vessel congestion. Business leaders say that this could lead to irreparable damage to the economy. The disruption has already inflicted significant economic damage, according to business leaders, who estimate losses of at least Tk3,000 crore.
