Indefinite strike declared at Chattogram Port

After a two-day pause, the Chattogram Port Protection Struggle Council will launch an indefinite strike from 8:00 a.m. Sunday, shutting outer anchorage operations and potentially paralysing the entire port.

Coordinators Humayun Kabir and Ibrahim Khokon announced the programme at the Chattogram Press Club on Saturday afternoon. The council has been protesting the move to lease the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) to DP World. It staged three days of eight‑hour strikes starting last Saturday, then began an indefinite work abstention on Tuesday. Container movements stalled; the strike was suspended for two days after a meeting with the shipping adviser on Thursday.

Hours after that meeting, the Chittagong Port Authority asked the Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate the assets of 15 protesting employees and sought travel bans on them, angering protesters. Khokon said the strike was resumed because the port chairman, Rear Admiral S M Moniruzzaman, had “escalated the situation.”

The council’s four demands: a government announcement that NCT will not be leased to DP World; removal of the port chairman and legal questioning of him; withdrawal of all punitive measures against protesting employees; and assurances of no legal action against the protesters.

Council leaders Mohammad Harun, Taslim Hossain, Abul Qasem, Yasin Reza Raju, Zahid Hossain, Harun, Imam Hossain Khoken, and Sharif Hossain Bhutto were present.

Chattogram handles about 78% of the country’s seaborne imports and exports and 99% of container traffic. A shutdown would halt most container exports and the clearance of imported industrial raw materials.