Foreign Lease of Chittagong Port Would Embolden Those Seeking Instability

Leaders of the Port Protection Committee and allied labor organizations have rejected Shipping Minister Mr. Sheikh Robiul Alam’s claim that Chittagong  Port management had reached a “stagnant stage.” The Minister had said a foreign company was being brought in to overcome this stagnation.

The Committee’s convenor, a former port CBA secretary, and leaders of protesting labor federations and professional groups called his statement entirely unrealistic, baseless, and misleading. They said it disrespects and denies the success and contribution of port workers, staff, and officials who have kept port operations running smoothly through years of tireless effort.

In separate statements on Friday, the leaders said the Minister’s claim of stagnation aims to implement an unreasonable and anti-national agenda from the ousted Ms. Hasina era, one that would hand over the port’s main, sensitive, and profitable operating facilities, the NCT and CCT terminals, to a foreign company through a long term lease.

They said various forces are currently working to destabilize the country by creating different issues. Leasing Chittagong  Port’s terminals to foreigners would embolden and encourage these destabilizing forces. The leaders warned that instead of opening the door to further unrest, the government must immediately cancel that anti-national decision made under Ms. Hasina.

On Thursday, September 24, Shipping Minister Mr. Sheikh Robiul Alam claimed at an event at the Marine Academy in Chittagong  that port management had reached a stagnant stage. He said the path had been opened to bring in a foreign company to overcome this so called stagnation. He added that ship, container, and cargo management centered on Chittagong  Port had been stagnant and inadequate.

In a Friday statement, Port Protection Committee Chittagong  convenor engineer Mr. Delwar Majumder and member secretary Mr. Fazlul Kabir Mintu called the Minister’s remarks divorced from reality and misleading. They said the tireless labor, experience, and sincere effort of port and dock workers, staff, officials, engineers, and skilled domestic manpower have kept the port running and steadily increased its container and cargo handling capacity.

They said port workers have kept operations running even during bad weather, maritime warning signals, and other adverse conditions, often at personal risk. They said calling this record of steady growth in revenue and handling capacity “stagnation” does not match reality. This achievement rests on the long hard work and skill of the port’s workers, staff, and officials.

The Committee’s leaders said modernization, technological development, and capacity expansion at Chittagong  Port are certainly needed. However, they said using the need for development as a pretext does not justify handing over the port’s important and profitable container terminals to foreign control through long term lease.

They said the Committee does not oppose adopting foreign technology, technical knowledge, or management cooperation where needed. But handing over long term strategic control of the country’s most important port infrastructure to a foreign company is an entirely different matter. They said any such decision requires a transparent, public assessment of its impact on the national economy, security, workers’ interests, revenue, and long term state interests.

The leaders said concerns have already grown in various quarters over plans to lease important facilities like the New Mooring Container Terminal, NCT, and Chittagong  Container Terminal, CCT, to a foreign company long term. They said neither decisions made under the previous government nor any later initiatives on this matter can override public and national interest.

They called on the current government to refrain from any decision to lease Chittagong  Port’s important and profitable container terminals to a foreign company long term. They also called for a transparent and impartial assessment of the port’s actual capacity, revenue, cargo and container handling, and the efficiency of domestic management.

The Committee’s leaders said they want modernization, technological development, and increased capacity at the port, but not at the cost of national interest and state control. They said the port’s development must happen together with the country’s workers, staff, officials, engineers, and skilled domestic manpower.

They said the ongoing movement demanding cancellation of the plan to lease the port’s key facilities to a foreign company, and protection of national interest at the port, will continue. On October 5, an all day sit in program will be held in front of the Chittagong  Port building, along with further intensified action.

The Lease Agenda Is the Real Motive

Kazi Sheikh Nurullah Bahar, Chittagong  divisional general secretary of the Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal and a former port CBA secretary, also rejected the Shipping Minister’s claim as baseless and groundless. He said the Minister is searching for a baseless excuse of “stagnation” to justify handing over the port’s profitable and sensitive main facilities, NCT and CCT, to foreigners through long term lease.

He said the reality is that Chittagong  Port has faced no stagnation at all, thanks to the tireless, hard labor and sincere effort of its workers, staff, and officials over the years. Instead, the port has broken past records every year in container and general cargo handling, and has posted record profits year after year, largely due to the contribution of its workers and staff.

He added that workers have kept port operations running even in defiance of maritime warning signals and bad weather, taking on personal risk. He said port operations have never stopped, not even for a single hour, and that the Minister’s remarks disrespect the workers’ and officials’ continuous hard work and sincere contribution.

He urged the Shipping Minister and a few overly eager officials to refrain, at a time when various issues are being used to destabilize the country, from leasing NCT, CCT, or any other Chittagong  Port facility to DP World or any other foreign company. He said the decision taken under the fugitive Ms. Hasina’s government must be cancelled immediately.

He said no foreign company should be handed control of Chittagong  Port’s important and continuously profitable container facilities, calling the port the heart of the national economy. He said the unified movement against this will grow stronger, and expressed hope that those responsible will see reason before that happens.

In the statement, Mr. Kazi Sheikh Nurullah Bahar, a senior leader of the workers’ unity alliance and former port CBA secretary, further said the Minister’s claim of stagnation at the port is simply not accurate. He said Chittagong  Port has set record highs in cargo handling and revenue, and is being run efficiently using domestic technology and skilled manpower.

He also opposed the Minister’s remarks about leasing the port’s container terminals to foreigners. He said clearly that the plan to lease NCT and CCT originated under the previous government. He noted that the interim government later also took steps in this direction, but it could not be implemented due to the united movement of workers and the public.

He urged the current government to refrain from any decision to lease any Chittagong  Port container terminal to a foreign company, saying port workers will not accept such a decision against public interest.

Under a policy decision made in 2023-24 during the fugitive Ms. Hasina government, NCT and CCT, described as the heart of Chittagong  Port, were set to be leased long term to the Dubai based foreign company DP World. The Port Protection Committee and various labor organizations, alliances, political parties, and social and professional groups have continuously protested this decision.

Their actions have included demonstrations, torch processions, blockades, rallies, memorandums to the Prime Minister, protest marches toward the port, and seminars. Protests have also taken place in the capital, Dhaka. The Port Protection Committee has called for an all day sit in program in front of the Chittagong  Port building on October 5 to press the same demands.