Extortion takes place at every point of Ctg port: Sakhawat

Labour and employment adviser Brigadier General (retired) M Sakhawat Hossain has said that extortion takes place at every point inside Chattogram port. He also claimed that illegal money as high as Tk 2 crore to Tk 2.5 crore is collected there every day.

He made the remarks on Monday, December 8, while responding to questions from journalists at a press briefing at the Ministry of Labour and Employment in Dhaka.

The press briefing was organised to highlight one year of progress and achievements of the ministry.

Responding to a question regarding the recent High Court verdict on the writ petition concerning the operational contract of Chattogram port’s New Mooring Container Terminal with a foreign company, he said that those discussing the matter might move to the new bench or seek intervention from the chief justice.

Dr Sakhawat Hossain said, “I am neither going against the verdict nor commenting directly on it. Globally, wherever there have been trillion-dollar investments, the highest investment so far has been made in ports.”

Citing financial losses at Pangaon terminal, he said that the government has been losing Tk 22 crore annually there, “Now, however, profits will follow.”

He further said, “I am surprised that when these issues are reported, nobody asks how much illegal money is extracted every day from Chattogram port? I can give a rough figure, although many may challenge that. The minimum amount? Every single section involves extortion. Trucks wait inside for days even when it is not a designated zone — someone is collecting tolls. If they are removed from inside, they face extortion outside too.”

Speaking further, he said, “Anyone elected as mayor of Chattogram acts more as the guardian of the port than the mayor of the city. The port is like a golden egg-laying hen — people just want to slaughter it quickly and take everything.”

He added, “First, people said that if certain individuals leave, the port operations would collapse. Even I got scared. We held meetings and agreed to reduce certain allocations by 5 percent. Now the port is running faster. Work that previously took days is now done within one day or even less.”

Asked how much illegal revenue is generated daily, he replied, “Around Tk 2 crore to Tk 2.5 crore — every day. Go to the port and ask, they will give even higher figures.”

When asked whether he has been able to stop this collection, he said that the amount has decreased significantly.

On December 4, a High Court bench delivered a split verdict on the writ over the New Mooring Container Terminal contract with a foreign company. Senior judge Fatema Nazib declared the process illegal, while Justice Fatema Anwar dismissed the writ petition.