Container and goods transport at the Chattogram port came to a halt on Saturday as transport owners suspended the movement of all vehicles in protest against a fourfold hike in vehicle entry fees.
Since morning, the owner associations of trucks, trailers and covered vans stopped sending vehicles inside the port, protesting at the increased fees imposed by the port authority.
The new rates along with other service charge revisions came into effect on October 15, raising charges by up to 41 per cent on average across different port services.
The fee for vehicle entry inside the port has risen from Tk 57 to Tk 230 for trucks, trailers and covered vans, according to the Transport Owners Association.
Following the decision, trailer owners stopped container transport while the inter-district truck and covered van owners鈥� associations also suspended all vehicle entry into the port from Saturday morning.
鈥極n October 13, the port authority unjustifiably increased the entry fee without any discussion,鈥檚aid Md Shamsuzzaman Suman, port affairs secretary of Bangladesh Covered Van Truck Prime Mover Goods Transport Owners Association.
鈥楴early 85 per cent of goods inside the port are transported by vehicles affiliated with our association,鈥� he continued, 鈥榠t is unacceptable that such a decision was made without consulting the transport owners.鈥�
鈥榃e have stopped all vehicle entry in protest,鈥� he confirmed.
After vessels berth at jetties inside the port, containers are unloaded and sent to off-docks or to Dhaka by trailers and lorries.
Similarly, loose goods are carried by trucks and covered vans to various destinations.
Meanwhile, Chittagong Port Authority secretary Md Omar Faruk confirmed that the increased entry fees came into effect along with the new tariff structure on October 15.
鈥楢ll operational activities at the port are continuing as usual. I hope that discussions would resolve the issue soon,鈥� he said.
For nearly four decades, port service charges had remained unchanged as the Chattogram Port Authority last raised tariffs in 1986.
A formal proposal by the CPA to increase fees by 41 per cent on average across different port services met with objections by the port users, including freight forwarders and shipping agents, at a shipping ministry meeting on June 2.
But the government went forward with its decision to announce new tariffs through a September 14 gazette signed by CPA chairman Rear Admiral SM Moniruzzaman.
New tariffs for 23 out of total 52 port services, including container handling, vessel berthing and vehicle entry, came into effect on October 15.
