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The Chattogram Port Protection Committee has demanded cancellation of the proposed 15-year concession agreement with an international operator to run and maintain the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) and its Overflow Container Yard, as well as an end to the initiative to lease the Chattogram Container Terminal (CCT).
The committee announced a daylong sit-in at the main gate of Chattogram Port on October 5 to press its demands.
At a press conference in Chattogram on Saturday, committee member secretary Fazlul Kabir Mintu said they had learned that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on October 1 had approved the draft concession agreement in principle for operation and maintenance of the NCT and Overflow Yard by an international operator for 15 years.
He questioned why such an important proposal concerning strategic national infrastructure was placed under the miscellaneous agenda of the committee rather than being presented and discussed in detail under the main agenda.
Mintu said Chattogram Port is directly linked to the country’s foreign trade, imports and exports, revenue, industry and business. The NCT is one of the port’s major container terminals, he said, adding that a 15-year concession should not be treated as an ordinary administrative or commercial decision.
Before such a decision is taken, a comprehensive and transparent comparative assessment should be made public, covering the terminal’s potential revenue under state management, capacity expansion, use of modern and automated technology, efficiency improvements and the potential financial benefits to the state from a concession, he said.
The committee said it was not opposed to foreign investment or modern technology. However, it said national interests, security, revenue, employment, workers’ rights and future policy flexibility must be protected in the long-term management of strategic infrastructure.
It 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.
Mintu said the government should explain why there was a need to move quickly on long-term concessions involving strategic infrastructure such as the NCT and CCT at a time when the country faces challenges related to economic reconstruction, employment, industrial development, investment and productivity.
He said no decision should be taken without publishing a comprehensive assessment of the potential benefits and risks of such agreements.
The committee said it had been pursuing its demands through peaceful and democratic programmes, including press conferences, symbolic hunger strikes, rallies with black and red flags, torch processions, demonstrations and discussions with people from different professions.
It said it had also sought a meeting with the prime minister over the proposed leasing of the NCT and CCT and proposed a national dialogue if necessary, but claimed that it had not received an effective response from the government.
The committee said its movement was not directed against the government but aimed to protect state assets and national interests and ensure transparency and accountability in decision-making.
It demanded cancellation of the proposed 15-year concession process for the NCT and Overflow Yard and withdrawal of the Shipping Ministry’s letter to the Chattogram Port Authority concerning the start of the CCT leasing process.
It also demanded withdrawal of what it described as harassment and false cases filed against port workers’ leaders during the tenure of the interim government and an end to allegedly retaliatory transfers or other administrative harassment of workers and labour leaders involved in the anti-leasing movement.
The committee warned that if the government does not clearly announce by October 5 that it is scrapping the NCT and CCT leasing initiatives, it will announce further programmes from the daylong sit-in at the port’s main gate.
It also called on various platforms, organisations and alliances supporting the movement to join a united campaign to protect Chattogram Port and national assets.
Leaders of several labour organisations attended the press conference, including Tapan Dutta, president of the Chattogram district committee of the Trade Union Centre; Kazi Sheikh Nurullah Bahar, general secretary of the Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal’s Chattogram divisional committee; and S K Khoda Toton, president of the Bangladesh Workers Federation.
