Uncertainty over the future of Chattogram Port’s New Mooring Container Terminal has deepened, with the interim government confirming that no lease agreement will be signed before it leaves office.
At a press briefing in Dhaka on Sunday, Bangladesh Investment Development Authority executive chairman Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun said global port operator DP World has requested more time to examine a draft agreement, making it impossible to finalise any deal within the remaining days of the current administration.
He said the company informed the Chief Adviser’s Office in a letter sent earlier in the day that it was satisfied with discussions so far but needed additional time to review the proposed terms. Talks, he added, would resume after the election and the end of the interim government’s tenure.
Ashik noted that although discussions with DP World began in 2019, negotiations became more active only in the past month. He expressed hope that dialogue would continue under the next government.
As the uncertainty continues, operations at Chattogram Port have been badly affected by an indefinite strike that began on Sunday morning. The protest, organised by the Chittagong Port Protection Movement Council, is aimed at blocking any move to lease out the terminal.
Port officials said normal activities at jetties and the outer anchorage have nearly come to a halt. Twelve vessels are currently docked at the main jetty, while more than 50 cargo ships remain stranded offshore, unable to unload goods. Additional law enforcement personnel have been deployed in and around the port area.
The latest strike follows a series of work stoppages by port workers since late January. Although the protest was briefly suspended after talks with the shipping adviser, it resumed after port authorities sought punitive action against protest leaders.
Earlier on Sunday, Shipping Adviser Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hussain said negotiations with DP World are still ongoing and may continue even after the election. He warned that the government would take strict action against those disrupting port operations, saying a small group could not be allowed to paralyse the country’s main seaport.
Protesters are pressing four demands, including cancellation of any lease plan, removal of the port chairman, withdrawal of actions taken against protesting workers, and assurance that no legal cases will be filed against those involved.
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