15 employees, including 2 coordinators, transferred to Mongla, Payra ports

Fifteen employees who have been protesting against the leasing of the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) of Chattogram Port have been transferred to Mongla Port in Khulna and Payra Port in Patuakhali.

Among them are two employees who were serving as coordinators of the movement.

The transfers were made through an office order issued by the Ministry of Shipping on Monday.

According to the order signed by assistant secretary of the Ministry of Shipping, Md Belayet Hossain, the employees were transferred and attached elsewhere for official purposes. Of them, eight were transferred to Payra Port and seven to Mongla Port.

Earlier, in three separate orders, the port authority had transferred these employees to Kamalapur Container Depot in Dhaka and the Pangaon Inland Container Terminal in Keraniganj. However, they did not join those workplaces. On Monday, they were again transferred and attached to the two ports.

Workers and employees have been observing eight-hour work stoppages since Saturday in protest against the government’s decision to lease the NCT to UAE-based company DP World. On the third day of the movement, Monday, port operations remained paralysed from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Demanding withdrawal of the transfers and cancellation of the lease, the Chattogram Bandar Rokkha Sangram Parishad has called for a continuous 24-hour work stoppage starting tomorrow, Tuesday.

According to the Ministry of Shipping order, Md Humayun Kabir, coordinator of the Chattogram Port Protection Movement Council and coordinator of the Nationalist Port Workers’ Party, has been transferred to Mongla Port. Another coordinator, Md. Ibrahim Khokon, has been transferred to Payra Port.

The other transferred employees are Md Faridur Rahman, Mohammad Shafi Uddin, Rashidul Islam, Abdullah Al Mamun, Md Jahirul Islam, Khandaker Masuduzzaman, Md Humayun Kabir, Md Shakil Raihan, Manik Mijhi, Md. Shamsu Mia, Md Liyakot Ali, Aminur Rasul Bulbul, and Md Rabbani.

Coordinator of the Chattogram Bandar Rokkha Sangram Parishad, Ibrahim Khokon, told Prothom Alo, “These transfers have been carried out to suppress the ongoing movement protesting the leasing of the NCT. Along with the demand to cancel the lease, the movement will be intensified in protest against the transfers.”