Lighterage workers call off strike after 14 hours
Bangladesh lighterage workers' union called off their strike yesterday as the authorities promised to meet their demands.
Around 14 hours after calling the strike, the union leaders announced withdrawal at 7:30pm following a three-hour-long meeting with Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) Chairman M Shahjahan.
Nabi Alam, vice-president of Sorbostorer Noujan Sramikbrindo, said they decided to withdraw the strike as CPA chairman assured them of cancelling the lease of Charpara Ghat to a firm.
The union announced the strike to press home five-point demands on Thursday.
Their demands included the suspension of the CPA chairman, cancellation of CPA's lease of Charpara Ghat used by the lighter vessel workers, suspension of OC of Patenga Police Station, the survey of vessels to be done at Parky Char area, and preparing an estuary of the Sangu river for the anchorage of lighter vessels by dredging.
Unloading of imported bulk goods from bigger vessels to lighter vessels at the outer anchorage and transport across the country was suspended since 6:00am yesterday due to the strike.
Around 1,800 lighter vessels are engaged in the goods transport from Chattogram on inland water routes.
The problem ensued over leasing a ghat built by CPA at Charpara of Patenga in the port city for the usage of the lighter vessel workers to get on and off the coast.
Earlier, hundreds of lighter vessels used to wait upstream of the Karnaphuli river before going to the outer anchorage of Chattogram port for loading imported goods from larger vessels.
Later, as per CPA's instruction, the waiting area was moved and these lighter vessels were kept near Patenga Beach area for the last one and a half years.
As workers were facing problems for a lack of ghat, CPA constructed a ghat in Charpara area to be used by the lighter vessel workers to go to their vessels by boats. CPA also leased out the jetty to a firm in September last year.
Since then the staff of the leasing firm and the lighter workers have been at loggerheads.
According to workers' leaders, the former CPA chairman ensured them that the ghat would not be leased to anybody and only to be used by the lighter vessel workers but the incumbent port chairman leased it out.
Nabi Alam said staffers of the leasing firm very often harass the workers and in a recent case, they assaulted eight to nine workers on November 3.
He alleged that immediately they went to Patenga Police Station but the police did not lodge any complaint regarding the assault.
In protest, the workers on November 6 shifted all the lighter vessels near the Parky Beach area in Anwara upazila and started using the Chinese Ghat near Shah Amanat Airport Road but CPA evicted that ghat on Wednesday.
Alam said many workers who came to the coast for groceries could not reach the vessels as CPA did not allow boats at Chinese Ghat forcing many workers on board the vessels to starve that night that forced the general workers to go on strike.
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