The loading and unloading of goods from moored ships at Chattogram port have been halted from 12:01 am Sunday as lighter vessel workers called for an indefinite strike putting forward a 10-point demand. In such a situation putting businesses in trouble.

The 10-point charter of demands of the workers includes setting a minimum wage of Tk20,000 along with the provision of appointment letters, identity cards and service books, setting up a contributory provident fund and seamen welfare fund to ensure social security along with food allowance and sea allowance, providing Tk10 lakh as compensation for accidents and deaths at work, stopping the ongoing activities of the supplying fuel oil through the pipeline from Chattogram which is not in the best interest of the country.

Mahbub Rashid Khan, executive director of Water Transport Cell (WTC), an organization of lighter ship owners told, “WTC usually gives allocations to 70-80 lighter ships daily. No ship has been given allocation on Sunday due to strike by the vessel workers.”

Nabi Alam, vice president of the Lighterage Workers’ Union, said that the movement of lighter ships has been halted since Sunday midnight. General workers have stopped the unloading of goods from large ships anchored outside the port. At the same time, 22 private wharves in Majhir Ghat and Sadar Ghat areas have also stopped unloading goods from lighter ships.

Note that, Around 1,600 lighterage ships transport goods from the outer anchorage of Chattogram port to different parts of the country. These products include raw materials for cement, ceramics and steel industries, fertilizers, coal and consumables.