Advisor Sakhawat faces protests at Ctg port

Shipping Advisor M Sakhawat Hussain has faced protests from workers and employees during a visit to Chittagong Port amid an ongoing strike.

Around 11:00 am on Thursday, he came under fire from protesting workers and employees outside Gate No. 4 of the port, reports bdnews24.com.

Earlier in the morning, the advisor arrived at Chittagong Port. As he was leaving the port premises, protesters gathered outside Gate No. 4 and chanted various slogans. At one point, the adviser got out of his vehicle and tried to talk to the protesters.

At the time, Ibrahim Khokon, coordinator of the Port Protection Struggle Council, said, “I have been working at the port for 32 years. I have never seen such a chairman [Port Chairman SM Moniruzzaman]. Over the last one and a half years, he has harassed us in various ways. We cannot even meet with him. We demand the chairman’s removal.”

Addressing the protesters, Advisor Sakhawat said, “I will talk to you one-on-one. I have been working with you for the past one and a half years.”

“I’ll listen to you, but you have to listen to me as well.”

The advisor later went to the port building and held a meeting with senior port officials.

Speaking to bdnews24.com, Ibrahim said, “We placed our demands before the advisor, including the demand for the removal of the port chairman. He has agreed to hold a meeting with us.”

“Due to the continuous work stoppage, Chittagong Port has again come to a complete standstill on Thursday. Since the morning, no containers have entered the port, no loading or unloading has taken place, and delivery of goods remains suspended as usual.”

Under the banner of the Port Protection Struggle Council, workers have been observing work stoppages since Saturday in protest against the government’s decision to lease the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) to UAE-based company DP World.

After observing eight-hour work stoppages for the first three days, the protesters launched an indefinite strike from Tuesday.