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C&F staff halt work at Ctg port as transport strike enters second day

Photo: Collected

Stalemate at the Chattogram port, the country's largest seaport, deepens as employees of customs clearing and forwarding (C&F) agents started observing a four-hour work abstention from 9:00am today, protesting against increased entry and licence fees.

The work abstention began at a time when movement of goods-carrying vehicles to and from the port remained suspended for the second consecutive day amid a continued strike by transport operators protesting higher entry fees at the port.

Activities of the port, which handles over 90 percent of Bangladesh's trade, suffered.

Against the backdrop, the port authority has called a meeting with leaders of different transport owners', workers' and C&F agents' associations at 12:00pm today, said Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) Secretary Md Omar Faruk.

Over 10,000 staff of C&F agents, commonly known as jetty sarkars, handle documentation for the release of import and export consignments. They usually enter the port using light vehicles.

The entry fee for light vehicles such as motorcycles and auto-rickshaws has been raised to Tk 115 per vehicle per visit from Tk 23 previously, a 400 percent hike.

Chattogram Custom Agents Employees Union General Secretary Mosharraf Hossain told The Daily Star that C&F employees are generally low-paid and need to enter the port several times a day.

"Their daily expenses have increased sharply due to the higher entry fees," he said, adding that if the authority does not withdraw the decision, they will announce tougher programmes.

The CPA on October 15 increased entry fees for all types of vehicles and individuals, as well as licence fees for C&F employees, under the new tariff schedule that came into effect on the same day.

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