Chattogram Port remains in a state of chaos on second day of strike, ban on meetings

On the second day of the strike called to protest the decision to lease the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) of Chattogram Port to foreigners, the port's operational activities remained almost at a standstill on Sunday. The loading and unloading of containers and goods from ships at the port jetty has been disrupted since 8 am.

The Port Nationalist Workers' Party had called for a two-day eight-hour strike from Saturday to protest the government's decision to lease the NCT to the UAE-based company DP World. On the second day of the program, the workers and employees observed an eight-hour strike in operational and administrative activities from 8 am on Sunday.

In this situation, the Chattogram Metropolitan Police imposed a ban on processions and gatherings in the port area through a public notice at 11:30 pm on Saturday. This ban was imposed for a month from midnight of February 1 to March 2. However, the campaigning for the parliamentary elections has been kept out of this ban. The notification warned that appropriate legal action will be taken if the order is not followed. After the public notice was issued, a large number of police were deployed in the port building area on Sunday morning.

Meanwhile, after the program started at 8 am on Sunday, the loading and unloading of containers and goods from ships at the port's GCB terminal almost stopped. Limited operational activities were carried out in CCT and NCT. On the other hand, employees also refrained from administrative activities.

Fazle Ekram Chowdhury, president of the Berth Operators, Shiphandling Operators and Terminal Operators Owners Association (Botswa), an organization of port jetty and terminal management companies, said, "The loading and unloading of containers and goods from ships at the GCB terminal was disrupted as the workers did not join work from 8 am on Sunday." Ibrahim Khokon, coordinator of the Chittagong Port Nationalist Workers' Party, said that the employees and workers spontaneously observed the program.