Gantry crane mess

Chittagong: The move taken by Chittagong port authority to ensure smooth operation of its container terminal still remains clouded as the dockers were divided into two rival camps, drawing a battle line on the issue of operating gantry cranes there, port sources said.

The two rival camps were locked in the battle for and against the operation of gantry cranes at the container terminal by a private firm, port sources added.

The trouble began at the container terminal crippling its operation from November 12 after the dockers belonging to the camp led by former president of Chittagong port CBA, Mahfuzur Rahman Khan, and backed by the mayor of Chittagong, ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, launched movement demanding cancellation of the deal with a private firm Saif Power Tech Ltd to run the four gantry cranes, port sources informed.

They also demanded the operation of the gantry cranes at the container terminal by port’s own operators instead of foreign operators hired by the private firm, port sources said.

But the rival camp led by the incumbent port CBA general secretary, Nurullah Bahar, took its stand in favour of the private firm to run the gantry cranes as per the agreement signed with it by CPA and announced to stage demonstration with laying siege around the port house on Wednesday demanding immediate resumption of operational works at the container terminal to break the deadlock, port and CBA sources said.

Bahar, also the general secretary of pro-BNP dock workers front Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal said that tough action programmes would be announced soon if the port authority failed to restore operation of the container terminal.

‘The private firm must be allowed to operate the gantry cranes as per agreement, otherwise we will paralyse the whole port,’ he said adding ‘Our movement is for the interests of the port and the nation.'

When contacted, former port CBA president, Mahfuzur Rahman Khan, who is also the leader of pro-Awami League dockers front Jatiya Sramik League, said, ‘We will resist any move taken to operate the gantry cranes at the container terminal by the private firm under a controversial deal.’


‘The gantry cranes must be operated by our operators, not by any outsiders,’ he added, saying, ‘Otherwise, our movement will continue and there will not be any gang booking for container terminal.’

He condemned the move of the leaders of rival camp supporting Saif Power saying ‘They are invisible partners of this private firm and for this reason they took stand in its favour’.

But Nurullah Bahar denied the charge.

Meanwhile, CPA held hectic parleys with the leaders of rival camps, business circles and port users since the problem cropped up, in a bid to negotiate for ending the impasse at the container terminal, port officials said.

Even the port chairman recently went to Dhaka to meet the adviser on port and shipping on this particular issue while it was raised in the meeting of the council of advisers amid concerns from the leaders of trade bodies, but all the moves reportedly ended inconclusively, sources informed.

A senior port official seeking anonymity said, ‘The deadlock at the container terminal persists as we could not yet find any way out. However, we continued our efforts’.

On the other hand, 11 gearless vessels with about 7,000 containers on board carrying imported goods were stuck up at the port due to suspension of gantry crane operation at the container terminal, sources said.

Those ships were incurring operational loss of over one lakh US dollars per day due to the deadlock, the port and shipping sources informed.

The senior vice-chairman of Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association, Ahsanul Hoque Chowdhury, said, ‘We appealed to the port authority time and again to resume operation at the container terminal to release the stranded gearless vessels, but all in vain.’

‘So we will be forced to follow a hard line by asking our principals abroad not to send any