Chattogram Bandar Rokkha Committee to stage sit-in on Oct 5

The Chattogram Bandar Rokkha Committee (Chattogram Port Protection Committee) has demanded the cancellation of the proposed 15-year concession agreement with an international operator to operate and maintain the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) and its overflow container yard.

The pro-ruling party workers’ panel made the demand at a press conference held in the port city today.

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Fazlul Kabir Mintu, member secretary of the committee, said they had learnt that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, at its meeting on October 1, gave in-principle approval to the draft 15-year concession agreement for the operation and maintenance of the NCT and overflow yard.

As the NCT is one of the country's major container terminals, a comprehensive and transparent comparative assessment should be made public before it is handed over under a long-term concession, he said.

The assessment should cover the terminal's potential revenue under state management, scope for capacity enhancement, use of modern technology and automation, operational efficiency, and the potential financial benefits to the state from the proposed concession, Mintu said.

Leaders of the labour federations, the Sramik-Karmachari Oikya Parishad (SKOP), the BNP-affiliated labour wing and various other labour organisations attended the press conference.

They also called for a review of the experience of the 22-year agreement signed with Saudi Arabia-based Red Sea Gateway Terminal in December 2023 to operate the Patenga Container Terminal before entering into any new long-term concession agreement.

Mintu said the government should explain to the public why there was such a hurry to hand over strategic infrastructure like the NCT and CCT under long-term concessions at a time when the country was facing major challenges in economic reconstruction, employment generation and boosting investment.

They also demanded the cancellation of the proposed 15-year concession process for the NCT and overflow yard, withdrawal of the initiative to lease out the CCT, and withdrawal of what they described as “harassing and false” cases filed against port labour leaders.

The committee also demanded that workers and labour leaders involved in the movement against the proposed leasing of the NCT and CCT not face administrative harassment.

At the press conference, the committee also announced that it would hold a daylong sit-in in front of the main gate of Chattogram Port on October 5.

If the government does not make a clear announcement by then cancelling the initiatives to lease out the NCT and CCT, the organisation said it would announce further programmes from the sit-in.