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The Bangladesh Bulkhead Owners Association has threatened to suspend the movement of bulkheads and dredgers indefinitely if their six-point demands are not met by September 30.
The demands include identifying new legal sand quarries and leasing them through open tender, ending extortion, violence and robbery on waterways, and stopping what the association described as harassment cases against bulkhead owners and workers.
The association made the announcement at a press conference held at the Maulana Mohammad Akram Khan Hall of the National Press Club in Dhaka on Sunday.
The leaders called for new legal sand quarries to be identified in the rivers of Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Chandpur, Shariatpur, Bhola and Barishal and leased through open tender in accordance with the Sand and Soil Management Act, 2010.
They also demanded full security for legal sand quarries, bulkheads, dredgers and their workers, as well as the formation of an effective monitoring committee comprising representatives of the naval and local administrations, leaseholders, bulkhead owners and workers.
The association further called for increased patrols by the river police and Coast Guard to curb extortion, robbery and alleged attacks by unscrupulous fishermen on waterways.
It also demanded that bulkheads be allowed to operate at night on safe waterways in accordance with regulations and that harassment cases against owners and workers be stopped.
The association also called for an end to illegal payments and arbitrary toll collection in the name of BIWTA or any other organisation.
The leaders said that if their demands are not fulfilled by September 30, they will announce an indefinite shutdown of bulkhead and dredger operations on all waterways.
Association President Marfat Mizi, General Secretary Md Faruk Hossain and Organising Secretary Md Zaman Khan attended the press conference.