Workers And Public Will Intensify Movement To Resist Leasing Ports
Defying heavy police barricades and obstacles, a massive protest rally and demonstration surged toward the Chattogram Port on Sunday afternoon to protest the controversial move to lease out the port’s lucrative primary facilities, the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) and the Chittagong Container Terminal (CCT), to the foreign company DP World on a long-term contract. Organized by the Chattogram Port Protection Committee following a prior public announcement, the large-scale event took place at the Barik Building intersection adjacent to the port area, immediately followed by a determined protest march directly toward the strategic port installation.
The demonstration witnessed massive participation from leaders, workers, and activists representing port employee unions, alongside a broad coalition of political, social, student, and professional organizations. During the proceedings, organizers formally announced a subsequent sit-in program scheduled to take place directly in front of the Chattogram Port Building on October 5. This event builds upon a continuous movement of prior resistance activities, including protests, rallies, blockades, encirclements, black flag and torchlight processions, and formal memorandums submitted to the Prime Minister, orchestrated to halt the foreign leasing initiative.
Protesters alleged that the ongoing push is propelled by the overzealousness of certain top officials within the Ministry of Shipping and the Chairman of the Chattogram Port Authority, who are attempting to rush the long-term contract with Dubai-based DP World. Speakers vehemently asserted that the NCT and CCT terminals are daily geese that lay golden eggs for the national treasury, warning that a conspiratorial syndicate is bent on choking this vital asset to death for personal gain. They declared that port resources belong exclusively to the people of the country, and that workers and citizens will jointly and intensely resist any threat to economic sovereignty.
Presided over by Chattogram Port Protection Committee Convener Engineer Mr. Delwar Mazumdar and conducted by Member Secretary Mr. Fazlul Kabir Mintu, the rally featured sharp critiques from prominent labor and political figures. Speakers highlighted that Chattogram Port is a core foundation of the national economy and foreign trade, making the transfer of its vital terminals to a foreign entity a decision fundamentally contrary to national interests. They stressed that national security, economic sovereignty, and workers’ rights must take absolute precedence over any outsourcing initiatives pursued under the guise of modernization.
Mr. A. M. Nazim Uddin, President of Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal Chattogram Division, stated during the rally that Chattogram Port is not merely a commercial enterprise but a critical national installation linked directly to sovereignty. Entrusting long-term control of NCT and CCT to a foreign entity under the guise of management could yield severe adverse future repercussions. He stressed that to safeguard national economic interests, transparency and accountability must be ensured, and the government must step back from the lease decision instead of pursuing policies that ultimately harm the public.
Echoing these concerns, labor leader and former Port CBA Secretary Mr. Kazi Sheikh Nurullah Bahar stated that there is no scope to implement anti-public interest decisions inherited from the autocratic Awami League regime. He emphasized that placing vital national infrastructure under foreign control under the banner of capacity enhancement is no real solution; rather, port operations can be made significantly more dynamic through internal capacity building, modern technology integration, and skilled manpower recruitment. He warned that leasing these terminals would deprive the state of massive revenues and jeopardize worker job security.
Mr. Delwar Mazumdar, Convener of the Port Protection Committee, warned the administration that peaceful movements pursued thus far to draw government attention were ignored, prompting the current escalation. He stated that NCT and CCT are vital national investments, and before the public movement explodes like gunpowder, the government must formally announce the cancellation of the DP World lease initiatives. He reaffirmed that the committee and local stakeholders remain fully prepared to intensify their resistance if the authorities refuse to heed public demands regarding these strategic assets.
Following the formal speeches, members of the Port Protection Committee advanced toward the port in an energetic procession that electrified the Agrabad highway. Participants chanted various slogans demanding the immediate cancellation of the terminal leases and the comprehensive protection of national interests. Filling the air with thunderous cries of ‘Go Back DP World,’ ‘We Will Give Our Lives, Not the Port,’ and ‘Beware, Brokers of DP World,’ the demonstrators demonstrated unwavering solidarity in their ongoing struggle to keep the primary operational facilities of the Chattogram Port under domestic public control.
