Activities at Ctg port returning to normal after truck strike postponed

Activities at Chittagong Port and 19 private inland container depots (ICDs) started returning to normalcy yesterday following the postponement of the countrywide strike enforced by the goods-carrying transport owners and workers.

"Container transport between the port and the 19 ICDs located in and around the port city resumed around 10:10 pm yesterday after the strike was postponed," said Md Ruhul Amin Sikder, secretary of Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association (BICDA), reports our Chattogram staff correspondent.

Leaders of the goods-carrying vehicles owners-workers association postponed their ongoing strike following a meeting with Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal at the secretariat last night.

"Our priority now is to send the export-bound containers to the port," Sikder said.

As many as 10,700 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of export-bound containers got stranded at the 19 ICDs since Friday morning.

Two vessels SOL Hind and Kota Bistari still waiting for 545 TEUs and 350 TEUs of containers, respectively are scheduled to leave the port this morning.

Earlier SOL Hind deferred its scheduled departure yesterday morning and waited an additional day at the port as the 545 TEUs could not be transported to the port.

An on-duty operation officer at the port's security department told The Daily Star around 10:45 pm last night that vehicles including trucks, covered vans and prime movers started standing in queue in front of Gate-4 of the port to get an entry for taking out the delivery.

The delivery of imported goods from the port was badly disrupted in last few days since Friday morning due to the transport strike.