Importers to face loss of Tk 20 crore daily

Goods vessels lie idle in the port city during a strike called by workers of jetties and warehouses yesterday to press home their demands, including a pay rise. Photo: Anurup Kanti Das

Ghat workers in the port city launched work abstention programme for an indefinite period from yesterday morning, demanding increase of their wages.
The workers, who are involved with loading and unloading of goods from vessels, said storehouse owners are paying them under the 2005 wage chart, which is unjustified.
A labourer gets Tk 7.50 for carrying a load of 90kg and Tk 4.20 that of 50kg, they said, claming that it is very difficult for them to maintain family expenditures with the money they earn under the wage scale.
As the workers went on work abstention yesterday, mother and lighter vessels got stuck in a jam in Karnaphuli River, causing a huge economic loss to the importers.
Amol Chandra Das, an owner of Marine Services and Traders Ltd, said at least 60 lighter vessels were stuck at 16 ghats on the river and 12 mother vessels at the outer anchorages.
Put together, the losses for the suspension of loading and unloading of goods from the trapped vessels amount to at least Tk 20 crore a day, he said.
Abul Bashar Chowdhury, chairman of BSM Group and an importer, said he imported Russian wheat on Star Epsilon, a mother vessel, which got trapped at the outer anchorage due to shortage of lighter vessels.
As the workers of different ghats did not unload the goods from the lighter vessels, those small vessels could not go to mother vessels to load the goods, he said.
Mohammad Alamgir, convener of Chattagram Ghat and Gudam Sramik Sangram Parishad, the association of the workers under which they were protesting, said they requested many times for rise of wages, but owners of the different storehouses and agencies never heeded.
To press the demand, the workers also observed a five-day protest in 16 ghats of the port city including rallies and processions from January 19, he said.
Saying the 2005 wage scale is unjustified, the workers' leader hoped that the government and the local administration would think about their problem and take initiatives to solve it.
He said no one made any contact with them till 6:15pm yesterday.
Abul Hasem, owner of an agency, Laboni Enterprise, which appoints workers for discharging goods, said three different organisations are involved in the matter.
If the importers do not increase service charge, how the agencies can raise the wages, he said and requested for the intervention of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry's (CCCI) in this connection.
Mahbubul Alam, senior vice president of CCCI, said they were informed of the issue yesterday and would talk to representatives of all parties to work out a solution.