The Chittagong Port Authority on Sunday suspended the newly imposed entry fee hike for goods-carrying vehicles following two days of protests by transport owners and workers.
The decision came at a meeting between port officials and representatives of truck, covered van and prime mover owners and workers at the port building on Sunday afternoon.
Increased tariffs on 23 out of the 52 services at the Chattogram port, the lifeline of the country鈥檚 trade, came into effect on October 15 amid objections from businesses.
Under the new rates, vehicle entry fees rose from Tk聽57 to Tk聽230, triggering widespread protests.
On Saturday, truck, covered van, and prime mover owners stopped vehicle entry into the port, paralysing container and goods transport.
With the new rate suspension order, vehicle entry fees at the port will remain at Tk聽57.
CPA chairman Rear Admiral SM Moniruzzaman and senior officials attended Sunday鈥檚 meeting.
Following the meeting and the new rate suspension order, transport owners announced the resumption of vehicle operations inside the port.
However, increased tariffs on the other port services remain in force.
After the meeting, CPA secretary Md Omar Faruk said, 鈥業n the interest of the country鈥檚 economy, the increased entry fee for vehicles at the Chattogram port will remain suspended until further decision.鈥�
He said that as the issue was directly linked to the country鈥檚 import and export activities and the overall economy, all parties agreed that normal operations should resume immediately.
In response to a question whether the tariff would be revised, the CPA secretary said, 鈥楾he port authority will prepare a proposal and send it to the ministry for approval. Once a final decision on the issue is made, it will be made public. Until then, the suspension will remain in force.鈥�
Faruk also said that transport leaders had assured the meeting that they would return to work.
About six thousand trucks and covered vans waiting outside the port will now resume operations, he said.
Following Sunday鈥檚 meeting, Md Shamsuzzaman Suman, port affairs secretary of the Bangladesh Covered Van Truck Prime Mover Goods Transport Owners Association, said, 鈥楾he meeting decided to suspend the increased entry fee. Immediately after the meeting, we instructed all our members to return to work.鈥�
The port authority had initially planned to implement the increased rates, including 37 per cent rise in container handling charges, on September 15 but deferred the time frame by one month due to the businesses鈥� objections to the rates.
