The Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) has transferred four officials to the Pangaon Inland Container Terminal in Dhaka’s Keraniganj for their involvement in the ongoing strike at the country’s premier seaport.
Operations at Chattogram port were suspended on Saturday as workers unions called a two-day strike to protest the proposed lease of the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) to Dubai’s DP World, a global port operator.
An office order signed by CPA Chief Personnel Officer Nasir Uddin on 31 January said the transfers were made for “urgent official and operational purposes.”
The officials were instructed to be released from their current posts at noon on January 31 and to report to their new assignments at Pangaon ICT on the morning of February 1.
The transferred officials are Md Humayun Kabir, audit assistant of the Internal Audit and Inspection Department; Md Ibrahim Khokon, engine driver of the Shipping Department; Md Anwarul Azim, high accounts assistant of the finance and accounts department; and Md Faridur Rahman, SS khalasi of the engineering department.
All four have been attached to equivalent positions at Pangaon ICT, according to the order, which said they were actively involved in leading the work stoppage programme.
Humayun Kabir is the convener of the Port Protection Sangram Parishad and a former publicity and publication secretary of the port’s Collective Bargaining Agent.
Ibrahim Khokon serves as member secretary of the same platform, while the other two officials also played key roles in organising the strike.
The transferred officials described the move as punitive, linking it directly to their role in the protest of the NCT lease process.
“We do not accept this transfer. We will discuss the matter with the authorities who issued the order on Sunday,” Kabir told TIMES of Bangladesh.
CPA Chief Personnel Officer Nasir Uddin rejected allegations of punitive intent, saying the decision was part of routine administrative arrangements.
“Travel from Chattogram to Dhaka is possible within a day. Other officials are also posted at the Pangaon ICT,” he said.
The transfers came amid continuing labour unrest at the country’s main seaport.
The two-day strike called by the Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal was observed from 8am to 4pm on Saturday, with the same programme scheduled to continue Sunday.
