Bangladesh has pulled back from plans to lease Chattogram’s New Mooring Container Terminal to a foreign operator amid port worker protests with the interim government indicating the decision will now be left to the next government after elections.
Bangladesh has stepped back from its plan to lease a major container terminal at the strategically important Chattogram port to a foreign operator, amid intensifying protests ahead of the February 12 national election.
The announcement came on Sunday from a senior official of the interim administration headed by Muhammad Yunus, even as dock workers resumed an indefinite strike after a two-day pause. The fresh shutdown follows an earlier six-day work stoppage protesting the government’s proposal to lease out the terminal to a foreign private company.
“In practical terms, the discussion (on leasing out the terminal) may move beyond this government’s tenure and, after the upcoming election, will continue under the next government,” Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) chairman Ashik Bin Harun said at a media briefing in Dhaka.
Officials said talks to lease the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) to Dubai-based DP World had reached an advanced stage. However, Harun said DP World had recently written to the Bangladeshi authorities commending the progress made so far but seeking additional time to review the draft concession agreement.
Earlier, Shipping Adviser retired Brigadier General Sakhawat Hussain said the interim government had decided to take a “hard line” on the issue. “The port strike cannot be allowed to continue,” Hussain told reporters, adding that several people had been detained and that more arrests could follow, as “a handful of people are trying to hold the entire port hostage.”
Harun said negotiations would continue even if no agreement was signed during the interim government’s tenure, noting that “most likely, the next government will take it forward after the election.”
Workers at Chattogram port launched the strike last week in opposition to the plan to lease out the key container terminal. “This is a suicidal decision,” Humayun Kabir, coordinator of the Chattogram Bandar Rokkha Sangram Parishad, said earlier while announcing the protest.
The strike badly disrupted vessel movements, local reports said.
Bangladesh’s High Court earlier ruled the contract between the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) and the DP World was legal, removing legal barriers to the 25-year lease agreement for the NCT, which was launched in 2007.
According to officials, 95 per cent of Bangladesh’s international trade is handled through four terminals with NCT accounting for 40 per cent.
With inputs from agencies
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