40,000 undelivered containers choke Chittagong Port

The indefinite strike by Prime Mover-Trailer that enters its fourth day has clogged the Chittagong Port with undelivered containers at the port.

The transport companies started their indefinite strike from Monday protesting staff harassment at weighbridges on Dhaka-Chittagong Highway. 

Chittagong Metropolitan Police commissioner and the district administration were scheduled to have a meeting with the striking owners and workers on Thursday to resolve the issue.

Port Member (administration) Jafar Alam told bdnews24.com that more than 40,000 containers remained undelivered on the yard that paralysed the port on Thursday.

"The port has a capacity to hold 35,357 containers. The logjam has been created because the strike could not be resolved", he said. 

Inland Container Depots Association Secretary Md Ruhul Amin Sikder said, "Some 6,000 containers lie stranded at the port. Only 3,930 containers from private depots reached the port between 6 am Tuesday and 6pm Wednesday."

A total of 90 percent of the goods for export are brought to these private ports from where they are exported through Chittagong port, he informed. 

Prime Mover Trailer Owners'-Workers' Association joint convener Golam Mawla said that continued strike has crippled container movement from the next day it started.