Published : 03 Oct 2026, 11:51 PM
Updated : 03 Oct 2026, 11:50 PM
Labour leaders at Chittagong Port have called for a review of the process to hand over operations of the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) and Chattogram Container Terminal (CCT) to foreign operators, urging talks with workers and other stakeholders.
At a joint meeting on Saturday evening, leaders of the Bangladesh Jatiotabadi Sramik Dal and Chittagong Port Protection Committee made the demand.
The meeting was organised to protest the approval of a draft deal to hand over NCT to DP World and the process to put CCT and General Cargo Berth (GCB) under foreign management.
The finance ministry said on Thursday that it had approved a draft agreement to hand NCT operations to an international operator, without naming the company.
Dubai-based DP World, however, has been in talks over leasing NCT from the outset.
In early June, the government asked the Chittagong Port Authority to continue discussions with DP World over the lease.
An earlier attempt to sign an agreement with the company was later suspended by the then interim government.
Speaking at the meeting near Port Colony, protection committee’s Coordinator Ibrahim Khokon urged the government to review the lease or concession process for NCT and other terminals and hold talks with workers and relevant stakeholders.
He said the committee opposed handing over any part of the port to a foreign company, citing the port’s role in handling more than 90 percent of Bangladesh’s seaborne foreign trade.
The group also wants the government to explain why it wants to hand NCT to DP World and consider its arguments for keeping the terminal under Bangladeshi management.
Khokon warned of stronger protests if the government did not respond.
Humayun Kabir, another coordinator, said the issue was not limited to port workers and could affect the wider economy.
The meeting announced a torch procession on Oct 7 and called on all port workers and employees to join.
They were also urged to take part in a sit-in outside the port’s One Stop Service Centre on Oct 5.
