Ctg port hit by export container carrier's strike

A platform of the owners and workers of container carrying vehicles to the Chittagong port—Prime Mover, Trailer Malik Sramik Oikkya Parishad—went on an indefinite strike yesterday.

Golam Maola, joint convener of the platform, said they enforced the strike protesting harassment by the staff of the Road Transport and Highways Division on Dhaka-Chittagong highway.

At least 1,900 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) export containers scheduled to reach four foreign vessels for shipment got stranded at 16 private inland container depots in Chittagong due to the strike, said Ruhul Amin Sikder, secretary of Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association.

Two out of the four vessels named MV Ursula and MV Shasta are scheduled to depart today at 6.30am while the time of departure of the rest two—MV OEL Colombo and MV Xpress Lhotse—is 7pm.

On August 17, the Road Transport and Highways Division fixed a limit for carrying goods and declared the amount of fines against overloaded vehicles, in an effort to cut movement of overloaded vehicles.

On August 23, the division started a drive in this regard, which was resisted by the workers. The drive started again on September 24.

According to the notification, a 14-wheel prime mover is allowed to ply with maximum 33 tonnes of weight, including the weight of the vehicle, Maola said.

The vehicles will have to face a fine of Tk 2,000 to Tk 12,000 if they carry more than the limit, he said.

He said one such prime mover weighs around 15 tonnes, an empty container may weigh 5 tonnes while a container may contain goods weighing 10 to 30 tonnes.

Many drivers who refused to pay the fine were beaten by the staff working in Daudkandi and Meghna areas, and the vehicles were also vandalised, he said.

"Issues related to the weight should be controlled at the port before the delivery of the containers, so that the drivers are not harassed on the way."

It is feared that if the strike continues, shipment of export cargo would be badly hampered.

Usually 95 percent of the export cargoes are first brought from the factories to the private inland container depots where goods are loaded. Later the containers are sent to the Chittagong port for loading at the vessels.

The rest of the 5 percent cargoes are directly transported from the export processing zones to the port.

The number of prime movers transporting containers between the port and other destinations is over 8,000, the leaders of the association said.