The Shipping Advisor, retired Brigadier General M. Sakhawat Hossain, faced a protest from port workers during his visit to the Chittagong Port’s car shed on Thursday morning (February 6).
As he entered the car shed, leaders and activists from the port workers surrounded him, expressing their frustration. The workers wanted to discuss with the advisor the issue of privatizing the port’s CCT and NCT yards. They accused the port authorities of obstructing their attempts to meet with the advisor regarding this matter.
Ibrahim Khokon, the chief coordinator of the Chittagong Port Nationalist Workers’ Party, explained, “The CCT and NCT yards at Chittagong Port were developed as dedicated yards, and they could help make the port more profitable. Additionally, if these yards remain under the port’s direct management, nearly 4,000 jobs could be created. We wanted to meet with the advisor to request that these yards not be privatized. We also sent a letter to the port chairman on February 4, but due to the lack of cooperation from some port officials, we were forced to protest today.”
The protest ended when the Shipping Advisor promised to visit Chittagong to listen to the workers’ concerns.
