Chattogram Port back in action after strike ends

Bangla Press Desk:  Operations at Chattogram Port began returning to normal from 8:00am on Monday after a work stoppage triggered by a strike by workers and employees was suspended.

Loading and unloading of import and export containers at the jetties have resumed, while cargo transfer from large vessels to lighter ships at the outer anchorage is also continuing at full pace.

Confirming the development, Fazle Ekram Chowdhury, president of the Berth Operators, Ship Handling Operators and Terminal Operators Owners’ Association, said the deadlock had ended and port activities were back underway.

Earlier, a notice signed by organisation coordinators Md Humayun Kabir and Ibrahim Khokon, issued late on Sunday night, said the strike had been suspended from 8:00am on Monday until 15 February in the interests of the upcoming parliamentary election and the clearance of Ramadan-related goods. 

The notice, however, warned that fresh programmes would be announced from 16 February if five outstanding issues — including arrests, transfers and temporary suspensions — were not resolved.

The Chattogram Port Protection Movement Council had launched the second phase of an indefinite strike from 8:00am on Sunday, pressing four demands, including the cancellation of the lease of the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT).

The organisation announced the suspension of the strike late on Sunday night after the government declared that no contracts would be signed during the tenure of the interim administration. Source: daily Sun

BP/TD