Troops were deployed at the Chittagong Port on Wednesday afternoon to contain labour unrest that has crippled activities at the sea port for six days, officials said.
‘The army has been deployed to ensure security of the protected areas and restore operational activities that had been disrupted because of the labour unrest,’ said the Chittagong Port Authority’s security director Kamrul Islam.
Troops were called out following a government decision as the volatile situation hit hard the main sea port, he said.
Officials said the army arrived at the port about 4:00pm and took position at important points of the protected areas of port and jetties.
The Chittagong Metropolitan Police also slapped a ban on meetings and rallies, processions, carrying of arms or lethal weapons in and around the Chittagong port areas to quell labour unrest, officials said.
The CMP’s assistant commissioner Syed Mesbauddin said, ‘Restrictions have been imposed to stop dock workers from creating any chaos in and around the port.’ The ban will continue to be in force until further order.
Immediately after restrictions had been imposed, dock workers went out on demonstrations near the port jetty forcing the police to charge at them with truncheons and fire teargas shells to disperse the agitators, witnesses said.
At least 20 people were injured in the police action,
they said. The police picked up 27 people during the demonstrations, which created tension in the port areas, sources said.
The authorities took a hard line after the shipping minister, Shajahan Khan, who flew to Chittagong on Tuesday evening and stayed at the port to resolve the crisis, failed to convince the dock workers, opposed to the newly appointed private berth operators, to begin container handling at the jetties.
The shipping minister held a series of meetings with union leaders, stakeholders and port officials to break the deadlock in container handling, port sources said.
The deadlock hit Chittagong port on Friday as the pro-government dock workers rallying to push for their demands resisted the private berth operators, who went to the container jetties to take up their job.
The demands included cancellation of appointment of private berth operators engaged through a ‘fishy deal with tailored’ terms and conditions of the tender, reinstatement of dock workers retrenched during the immediate-past caretaker government and other welfare benefits for workers.
The dock workers chased private berth operators and assaulted port officials inside the container jetties, the sources said.
The situation grew violent on Tuesday evening when the dock workers in their hundreds forced their way through the gate of jetty No 4 and stormed the sheds to hold demonstrations, union leaders said.
The shipping minister on Wednesday evening told reporters that the army had been deployed and a ban on gathering had been imposed on the port to foil the conspiracy being hatched by vested quarters to halt port activities.
He said the authorities would not shoulder the responsibility of the dock workers who would not join work in two days.
He urged the berth operators to do container handling by accommodating the capable of the dock workers who were retrenched earlier.
The CPA chairman, RU Ahmed, who also attended the briefing, told the reporters that container handling had resumed in the evening.
Insiders said container handling was yet to resume on a full scale.
