Business almost unscathed by hartal

Businesses yesterday had little been affected by Hefajat-e-Islam's countrywide hartal as almost all export, import, retail and wholesale trade and banking activities continued at the normal pace.

A number of sources confirmed that operations of the Chattogram seaport and Dhaka airport were unaffected, with most cargo reaching or being sent off from there overnight.

The sole exception was a disruption to sales in some retail shops in areas where clashes were witnessed.

Logistics operators said vehicles used for import and export mostly operate at night, for which there was roughly no effect of the hartal.

Trucks are running on highways and there is no problem, except for some delays in movement at some places, said Mohammad Tajul Islam, president of Bangladesh Inter-district Truck Drivers Association.

There had been no impact on goods transport to and from the port city of Chattogram, said Abu Bakar Siddique, executive president of Bangladesh Prime Movers Association.

Till now there has been no major impact, said Syed Ershad Ahmed, country manager and managing director of global logistics provider Expeditors (Bangladesh).  

Cargoes already in container freight stations moved to the seaport smoothly. The Dhaka airport situation is normal, he told The Daily Star.

Normally the cargo is sent to the airport at night, said Ahmed, also the president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh.

There was no disruption in the delivery of goods from the Chattogram port as vehicles entered the port like any normal working day, said Omar Farook, secretary to the Chattogram port.

"Container transport between the port and 18 private inland container depots remained normal all day," he said.

The shipments of goods at the airport in Dhaka and Chattogram seaport was normal, said Kabir Ahmed, president of Bangladesh Freight Forwarders' Association.

The exporters were able to bring the goods to the port on time, he said.

Some 3,000 twenty feet equivalent units (TEUs) of containers are shipped from the Chattogram port daily and yesterday the quantity was 2,800 TEUs, said Ahmed.

Banking activities continued at the country's main commercial hub in Motjheel and other business districts, although presence of clients was a bit thin in some banks and non-bank financial institutions, said bankers.

Clients' presence in four branches of four major banks was a maximum 30 to 40 per cent.

This was confirmed by officials of the Sonali Bank principal branch, BASIC Bank's Motijheel branch and Southeast Bank's Dhanmondi branch.

"I came to know that there were very few buyers coming to the shops," said Mohammad Helal Uddin, president of Shop Owners Association.

On Saturday he instructed shop owners to decide on staying open based on the hartal situation.

Helal, however, claimed that the profit margin on the day's sales fell significantly by 20 per cent to 25 per cent.

On whether any shop was attacked by Hefajat-e-Islam activists, he said, "No, I have not received any such news so far."

"There is a fear among the people. Compared to other days, there are very few buyers in the market today. Almost there is no sale," said Liaquat Hossain Sabuj, head of Arosh, a clothing store in the capital's Bashundhara City Shopping Complex.

The hartal had no significant impact in the Khatunganj market, one of the country's largest wholesale markets for consumer goods, said Sager Ahmed, general secretary of Khatunganj Traders Association.

The Suez Canal blockage along with a day's inaction added by hartal definitely has a negative impact on the sector, said Rubana Huq, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

She did not elaborate.