Speakers claimed that labour leaders at Chattogram Port are facing administrative harassment and transfers as part of efforts to suppress ongoing protests by port workers opposing the leasing decision.
Students For Sovereignty has staged a protest in front of the PPP Authority office in Agargaon. Photo: Courtesy
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Students For Sovereignty has staged a protest in front of the PPP Authority office in Agargaon. Photo: Courtesy
Students For Sovereignty has staged a protest, demanding cancellation of the government’s decision to lease Chattogram Port’s New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) to a foreign company.
The protest took place today (4 February) around 11:30am in front of the PPP Authority office in Agargaon, where speakers called the move self-destructive and against national interest ahead of the election, reads a press release.
Addressing the rally, the leaders alleged the interim government is seeking to hand over the country’s only world-class container terminal to a foreign operator without open bidding, raising concerns over transparency, security and long-term economic risks.
They also claimed that labour leaders at Chattogram Port are facing administrative harassment and transfers as part of efforts to suppress ongoing protests by port workers opposing the leasing decision.
According to the speakers, the government plans to grant long-term concessionary control under an “African model” of port management, warned it could undermine sovereignty, weaken domestic control and increase economic security.
The protesters said that under domestic management, Chattogram Port earns $161–167 per TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit), which they claim would fall under a foreign concession, putting additional pressure on the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
They further alleged that the absence of an open tender process and the exclusion of other local and international bidders point to possible irregularities and conflicts of interest in the deal.
The organisation also rejected claims that major regional ports like Singapore and Vietnam are run by foreign firms, stating that Singapore’s terminals are fully domestic and Vietnam has not given exclusive control to any single foreign operator.
Criticising the deal’s strategic implications, the protesters claimed leasing the NCT to Dubai-based DP World could tie Chattogram Port to the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), increasing indirect geopolitical influence of India, Israel, the UAE, and the US over Bangladesh’s main seaport.
The group called for decentralising the port system using China’s river- and sea-based logistics model, saying it would cut transport costs, lower prices, promote regional industrialisation, and create jobs.
They also stressed that port operations are a key domestic industry that should be strengthened, urging the government to help local operators meet international standards and expand abroad.
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