Fuel price hike: Owners start suspending launch operations across the country

Launch owners started suspending launch operations across the country from today -- protesting the fuel price hike.

Although their association did not give any formal direction about strike, launch owners across the country have already moved their vessels from the terminals.

The decision came a day after the road transport associations started an indefinite strike from Friday to press home their demands -- either change the decision of fuel price hike or increase the transport fare.  

Photo: Palash Khan/Star

"We did not declare a strike but owners cannot afford to operate vessels after the fuel price hike. So they stopped launch operations," Mahbub Uddin Ahmed, president of Bangladesh Inland Waterways (passengers' carriers) Association told The Daily Star.

Owners have already moved their launches from terminals across the country, he said at 2:45pm today.

Zaynul Abedin, joint director of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) at Sadarghat, also confirmed that launches have already been moved from Sadarghat, the largest launch terminal in Dhaka.

Photo: Palash Khan/Star

Talking to The Daily Star, Rafiqul Islam, director (traffic) of BIWTA, said they will hold a meeting with the launch owners at 3:30pm tomorrow to fix the launch fare.  The meeting was scheduled to be held day after tomorrow.

Bangladesh Inland Waterways (passenger carriers) Association yesterday demanded the government double the launch fare from Tk 1.7 per kilometre to Tk 3.4 for the first 100 km and from Tk 1.4 per km to Tk 2.8 per km for travelling the distance beyond the first 100 km.