CPA unloads cargo on its own as workers stick to demands

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Our Correspondent
CHITTAGONG, July 9: Having failed to hand over cargo handling to its appointed berth operators and restoring discipline in the port, Chittagong Port Authority has finally backtracked to its own handling apparently under threat from the workers.
The private berth operators including M/S Pancharag Udayan Sangstha, which were awarded contract for cargo handling at the GCBs, have warned the CPA authority that it would be responsible for any kind of unwanted situation if it fails to protect the operators inside the jetty as per legal bindings of the contract.
Apprehending strong pressure from the owner and its local agent to unload cargo from the ship MV Panthera the port authority took away the vessel to another jetty inside the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) from berth number 8 and started unloading the cargo at around 11.00 am.
The Antigua flag vessel arrived at the port on July 6 with 522 metric tonnes of machinery of a power grid station imported by the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh and was due to leave the berth on the night of July 7.
The fixed operating cost of the huge vessel is $15,000 to $ 20,000 a day. So the shipping company is likely to claim demurrages for each extra day's stay-time in the port, concerned sources said.
The CPA officials said they tried to persuade the pro-government labour leaders, some of whom have gone on retirement from the CPA, in a series of meetings on Thursday night and Friday morning but to no effect.
The leaders adhered to their demands and refused to join the cargo handling under the private operators.
The CPA appointed berth operators said that they are aggrieved at the mysterious role played by the CPA officials who have failed to hand over cargo handling as per contract.
"We have ventilated our position to the port authority. We have expressed our grievance to them and requested them to take appropriate measures against those liable for the stalemate," said Rafiqul Anwar Babu, director (operations) of the aggrieved operator Pancharag Udayan Sangstha.
He told the FE that they have agreed to pay up due wages and other benefits as per contract with the CPA but they won't do anything beyond the terms of the contract.