According to foreign media reports, on September 21, the covered van truck prime mover goods transport Owners Association and the Bangladesh truck drivers Workers Federation held a strike on the same day, resulting in the paralysis of the country's truck transport business and a heavy blow to the port business, Among them, Chittagong container business is the most affected.
The strike also suspended the nationwide transportation of goods and the loading and unloading of other seaports and inland river ports.
Chittagong port officials said that due to the truck driver's strike, the work of loading containers on departing ships had been completely stopped. When imported containers are unloaded from the ship, no container can be transported out of the port.
Omar Faruk, Secretary General of Chittagong Port Authority (CPA), said: "the transportation of export containers has been seriously hindered due to the strike." however, other work in the port area is normal, including unloading boxes from ships and dismantling LCL goods.
Chittagong's shipping management said that there were no trucks entering and leaving the port area, and there were no trucks or trucks on roads and highways.
Truck drivers and other workers held rallies and protests, calling on the government to meet their demands. Truck drivers went on strike for 72 hours and made 15 demands, including raising the income tax standard for car owners; Amendments to the road transport law - 2018; Stop police harassment and extortion; Relax the licensing requirements for heavy truck drivers; Truck drivers' rest rooms shall be set every 50km along the expressway.
he Bangladesh trucking owners' Association and the Bangladesh Trucker workers' Federation implemented a joint strike after asking the government to meet their demands as soon as possible. Chowdhury Zafar Ahmed, Secretary General of the association of freight transport owners, said that the government unilaterally increased the income tax on car owners in 2019; The strike will continue until demands are met. According to Ahmed, more than 7000 vehicles enter the port area every day to transport goods.
Mohammad MOINUDDIN, chairman of Chittagong transport workers' Union, said that the truck and covered truck owners and workers' Association had called for a strike, "we have agreed to their request to stop transporting goods".
Import and export enterprises are worried that the strike will have a significant impact on Trade and may exacerbate congestion caused by COVID-19. Alamgir Hossain, a clothing exporter in Dhaka, said: "the government should immediately resolve the deadlock with truck owners and workers to save the enterprise." otherwise, he said, "when we try to make a comeback, the strike will further destroy our business".
It is understood that Chittagong is an important container port in Asia and the largest port in Bangladesh, undertaking more than 70% of the country's goods import and export. More than 7000 trucks carry out transportation operations in Chittagong every day, and more than 4000 containers arrive at Chittagong every day, of which more than 60% of the goods come from China.
