Port Protection Committee Calls for Disclosure of New Mooring Lease Deal, Announces Hunger Strike in Chittagong
A call has been made to make Monday’s planned mass hunger strike at Chittagong Port a success. The protest has been organised against the signing of a long-term lease agreement for the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) with Dubai-based DP World, despite public opposition, and the failure to disclose the agreement’s terms. The organisers are demanding that the full contents of the agreement be made public.
Leaders of the Chattogram Port Protection Committee made the call at an emergency meeting on Saturday. During a protest rally on Thursday, when the NCT lease agreement was signed, the organisations leading the movement announced a mass hunger strike for Monday morning in front of the port’s One Stop Building.
Various organisations and alliances have supported the programme. Committee leaders expect workers’ and employees’ alliances, political parties, social and professional organisations, and members of the public to take part. The emergency meeting was held at a hotel in Chittagong under the chairmanship of veteran labour leader Tapan Dutta. Participants expressed anger and condemnation over the decision to lease the profitable and strategically important New Mooring Terminal, a key facility of Chittagong Port, to DP World.
Speakers included A M Nazim Uddin, president of the Chittagong divisional committee of the Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal, an associate organisation of the BNP; Kazi Sheikh Nurullah Bahar, the committee’s general secretary and a former secretary of the port’s CBA; S M Jamal Uddin, organising secretary of the Sramik Dal central committee; Robiul Haque Shimul, joint coordinator of SKOP Chittagong; Iftekhar Kamal Khan, joint secretary of the TUC; and Abdul Baten, senior joint secretary of the Sramik Dal’s Chittagong divisional committee.
The leaders said the NCT lease agreement with DP World had been signed unilaterally, disregarding public opinion and national interests. They said people remained unaware of the agreement’s terms, its financial benefits and costs, and its potential impact on the national economy and security.
They said the public expects transparency, accountability and protection of national interests from a democratically elected government. Taking such an important decision without consulting the people, they added, goes against democratic principles.
The leaders also noted that Chittagong Port is the country’s principal seaport and a key driver of the national economy. Nearly 90 per cent of Bangladesh’s international trade passes through the port. Therefore, they said, the financial, strategic and security implications must be independently assessed before a major terminal is handed over to a foreign company under a long-term lease.
They demanded the publication of a comparative analysis of the proposed foreign operator’s offer and the port’s revenue, operational capacity and future development potential under state management. The leaders clarified that they did not oppose modern technology, greater efficiency or foreign investment in port operations. However, they said national interests, state capacity, government revenue, workers’ jobs and rights, and port security must remain the main priorities. They warned that patriotic citizens would not accept any agreement that undermined these interests.
They demanded that the NCT lease agreement be made public, its financial and technical aspects be assessed impartially, and a national-level discussion be held on the issue. The leaders said the interests and future of the country’s people are closely linked to Chittagong Port. They described the movement not as a campaign by any individual or group, but as an effort to protect national assets, economic interests and the rights of working people. They called for active participation from people from all walks of life.
