Kazi Zahidul Hasan :
The 48-hour transport strike has virtually halted freight traffic to and from Chattogram Port severely affecting the export and import trade of the country, insiders said.
Chattogram Port handles 90 per cent of the country’s export-import trade.
“The country’s foreign trade and supply chain has largely affected due to the strike enforced by the transport workers across the country. No goods laden truck and lorries enter or left the city badly affecting production and shipments,” M Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce of Industry (FBCCI), told The New Nation on Sunday.
Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation enforced the strike to press home their eight-point demand, including changes to the newly enacted Road Transport Act-2018.
“Transport strike always brings negative impact on production, commodity price and foreign trade, especially on garments export. Business community never supports such a ‘destructive’ programme that only harm
the economy,” said Mohiuddin.
He urged the transport leaders to withdraw their strike considering the interest of the economy and asked them to resolve their issues through discussion.
“The strike has severely disrupted the supply chain, bringing huge negative impact on the entire foreign trade. If the strike continues for another day, the export-oriented industries may lose a good amount of foreign exchange due to not fulfilling their export obligations,” Abdus Salam Murshedy, President of the Exporters Association of Bangladesh (EAB) told The New Nation yesterday.
He said the delay in shipments would lead to air shipments and cancellation of export orders, thereby loss of reputation and credibility with foreign buyers.
Murshedy, a Member of Parliament, also urged the transport workers to call off their strike immediately for the interest of the public as well as the economy.
“We are not able to send export consignment to port or to receive imported raw materials from the port either. This has severely disrupted production of many factories in Dhaka pushing them at the risk of order cancellation,” M Siddiqur Rahman, President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), told The New Nation.
According to him, about 3,000 factories in Dhaka are facing the risk of losses due to the transport strike. Many of them are used to send goods to Chittagong port every day to meet their routine shipment deadlines.
“These factories will face considerable financial losses due to miss in shipment deadlines.
If the strike continues for another day, it would bring an absolute disaster to the export-oriented apparel industry,” he added.
When asked, Chattogram Port secretary Omar Faruque said that goods were being loaded and unloaded from ships in the port jetty yesterday but they were not being delivered due the lack of transport. Export cargoes could not reach inside the port due to the strike.
