Strike on waterways goes on as talks fail

The water transport strike that began Saturday midnight across the country continues, as the government and transport workers have yet to reach an agreement.

"Our strike will continue as we are yet to reach a settlement of our demands with the secretary of the shipping ministry," said Chowdhury Ashiqul Alam, general secretary of Bangladesh Noujan Sramik Federation, after a meeting with shipping secretary at the ministry's conference room yesterday.

Shipping secretary held the meeting with the workers' leaders and BIWTA and BIWTC chairmen for several hours yesterday afternoon in efforts to resolve the crisis, but the meeting concluded without any concrete decisions.

Ashiqul said a decision about withdrawal of the strike would only come after a tripartite meeting between the government, owners and workers.

"We will withdraw the strike if our demands are met," he added.

The secretary proposed setting up a committee to deal with the demands, but without the presence of transport owners at the meeting, discussions would not be successful, said the workers' leader.

Movement of water transport was suspended on all major river routes including in the coastal districts of Barisal, Bhola, Barguna and Patuakhali since the strike began, reports our Barisal correspondent.

Launches including MV and ML types have also not been operating excepting for a few trawlers and small boats.

Hundreds of passengers with luggage were seen waiting for launches at Sadarghat and other launch terminals of the country.

Mahbubul Alam, director (port) of BIWTA, told The Daily Star that no water vessel moved from Dhaka, Khulna, Barisal, Chandpur and Chittagong.

Additional police have been deployed in the terminals to avoid any untoward situations.