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than crippling the country’s main seaport.
Neither the port authority nor the government are yet to initiate any discussion with the protesters, said Md Humayun Kabir, coordinator of Bandar Rokkha Songram Parishad.
The authorities have instead taken punitive measures by transferring and placing on standby several protesting labour leaders, he said.
The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) yesterday transferred seven more CPA employees to Pangaon Inland Container Terminal (ICD) in Keraniganj and Kamalapur ICD in Dhaka. The seven employees were actively taking part in the work abstention.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Jubo Arthanitibid Forum, a philanthropic organisation, yesterday moved a fresh petition before a chamber judge of the Supreme Court seeking an order of status quo on the entire process until the filing of a leave to appeal petition against the High Court verdict on the issue.
“The national parliamentary election is imminent, and at such a critical, sensitive and transitional juncture, the intended execution of the disputed contract amounts to an act of manifest executive high-handedness, arbitrariness and mala fide exercise of power on the part of the government,” Md Anwar Hossen, one of the lawyers for the petitioner, told The Daily Star.
If the court is not pleased to pass an order of status quo, the petitioners will suffer irreparable loss and injury and the rights and interests of the public at large will be materially prejudiced, he added.
The deal signing procedure with the foreign operator is being carried out by the government through the Public Private Partnership Authority following the PPP guideline, said CPA Secretary Md Omar Faruk in a press briefing.
“So far, there is no news of the deal being signed -- it is not right to start agitation and movement before the signing,” he said, adding that such work abstention is having an impact on the port’s normal activities.
Regarding the transfer of employees, he said it was a routine transfer done for an emergency official requirement.
Remittance jumps
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Bangladeshis abroad sent home a record $32.8 billion in 2025, according to central bank data.
Surging remittances have been a key driver behind the recent increase in reserves, indicating improved performance of the external sector.
As of January 29, gross foreign exchange reserves stood at $28.9 billion, up from about $20 billion a year earlier.
The Bangladesh Bank is now purchasing US dollars from banks to build up foreign exchange reserves.
The banking regulator has purchased a total of $3.93 billion from the interbank foreign exchange market so far this fiscal year.