Civil society rights group Ganatantrik Odhikar Committee has said that the Jamaat-controlled US-backed interim government has no right to enter into any long-term agreement, such as the privatisation of the Chittagong Port.
In a statement on Saturday, the committee said: โWe are observing with deep concern that the Laldia Container Terminal is being leased to foreign companies through suspicious haste, irregularities, and secrecy. We have come to know that the agreement process for Laldia Container Terminal and Pangaon Container Terminal is being completed on weekends.
โThe decision-making process, according to the Chittagong Port Authority Act, has been completed in a flawed and opaque manner. Port users have not been involved in this in any way. Similar opacity and haste are seen regarding the New Mooring Terminal.โ
Prof Anu Muhammad, Advocate Shafiuddin Kabir Abid, Seema Dutta, and Dr. Harun Ur Rashid signed the statement on behalf of the committee.
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The activists asked why the interim government is so busy doing such important matters for the country with such haste, irregularities, and secrecy.
โWe know that the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a subsidiary of the World Bank, is working as a consultant to the government in preparing the concession agreements for the Patenga and Laldia terminals of Chittagong Port.
โOn their advice, the previous Awami League government, currently the Yunus government, is arranging to lease the port terminals to foreign companies, and on their advice, it has recently been decided to increase the port tariff by 41%.โ
The rights body asked why the government should follow only the advice of IFC in leasing the New Mooring Terminal, Laldiar Char, Pangaon of Chittagong Port to foreigners, and why the government did not listen to anyone else, including the country’s users and experts.
โIf you look at the role of the World Bank or its subsidiary IFC in each country, it is clear that they do not see the public interest or national interest of any country. In fact, they only see the interests of the world’s large business organisations, including the United States. In Bangladesh, there is evidence of this role in various fields, including energy, jute, education, medicine, and water.โ
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Giving examples of Bolivia, Ghana and the Philippines, the committee said that the interim government’s failure to meet the expectations created by the popular uprising has not ended.
โHowever, its activity in giving Chittagong Port to foreigners is excessive. Such a government has no right to any long-term contract. These activities started during the Sheikh Hasina government. There, commission recipients worth hundreds of crores of taka were proactive in this work. We strongly condemn the activity of such commission recipients in the decision-making process of the current government.
โDecisions on various terminals of Chittagong Port must be made transparently. Before entering into agreements on strategic assets like the port, the terms of the agreement must be disclosed, and everyone’s consent will be required. These issues must be decided through extensive discussions in the parliament that will be formed in the next election.โ
They demanded that the government stop the commission recipients’ misdeeds against the national interest and focus on law and order, proper justice, and fair parliamentary elections. โOtherwise, the people of this country will not accept it in any way,โ the statement said.
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