Sit-in at Ctg port over NCT lease Oct 5

The Chattogram Bandar Rokkha Committee yesterday demanded cancellation of the proposed 15-year concession agreement with an international operator to operate and maintain the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) and its overflow container yard.

At a press conference, Fazlul Kabir Mintu, member secretary of the committee, said they had learnt that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, at its October 1 meeting, gave in-principle approval to the draft agreement.

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He said a comprehensive and transparent comparative assessment should be made public before the NCT, one of the country’s major container terminals, is handed over under a long-term concession.

The assessment should cover the terminal’s potential revenue under state management, scope for capacity enhancement, use of modern technology and automation, operational efficiency, and the potential financial benefits to the state from the proposed concession, Mintu said.

He also called for a review of the 22-year agreement signed with Saudi Arabia-based Red Sea Gateway Terminal in December 2023 to operate the Patenga Container Terminal before entering into any new long-term concession agreement.

Leaders of labour federations, the Sramik-Karmachari Oikya Parishad (SKOP), the BNP-affiliated labour wing and other labour organisations attended the press conference.

The committee announced a daylong sit-in in front of the main gate of Chattogram Port on October 5.