Bangladesh's ex-PM Khaleda Zia's party slams interim govt's port deals with foreign firms

Dhaka, Nov 25 (PTI) Bangladesh's former prime minister Khaleda Zia's party on Tuesday slammed the interim government for signing long-term deals with foreign companies to operate key ports, questioning the legitimacy of an "unelected" administration to make such agreements.

The interim government last week signed two major deals. Under one of the deals, Netherlands-based APM Terminals BV, a subsidiary of Danish giant AP Moller-Maersk, will operate the newly-built Laldia container terminal at Chattogram Port for 30 years.

The second agreement entrusts Switzerland-based MEDLOG with operating the Pangaon Inland Container Terminal (PICT) near Dhaka for 22 years.

"A government that has not been elected by the people of a country cannot determine the country's long-term future, Bangladesh Nationalist Party's (BNP) acting chairman Tarique Rahman said in a Facebook post.

The deals, he said, are "strategic commitments over a national asset, pushed forward by an interim government without a democratic mandate to bind future generations".

Referring to the Chattogram Port, Rahman, currently based in London, said the facility is "the gateway to Bangladesh's economy", adding that decisions regarding its long-term management were far from routine.

The port agreements were inked on November 17, the same day a special tribunal sentenced deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death in absentia on charges of crimes against humanity.

Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus had defended the move, saying global "best" operators would be brought in to run Bangladesh's port facilities. He had also called for public resistance against groups opposing the plan.

National Board of Revenue Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan said the interim government granted the companies a "100 per cent tax exemption for 10 years", while foreign technical personnel working under the projects would receive additional tax concessions.

The deals have sparked widespread debate. Politicians, academics and professionals, speaking at a discussion on Saturday, questioned the interim government's authority to lease out the management of strategic ports.

"The government should take steps to control law and order and stop mob culture in the country. It has no legal right to lease out the country's ports to foreign companies,” economist and activist Anu Mohammad said.

Dhaka University academic Moshahida Sultana said leasing out port operations would harm national interests, reduce revenue and shrink local employment opportunities. She urged the government to scrap the “unequal” agreements.

Lawyer Jyotirmoy Barua demanded immediate publication of the full texts of the contracts.

Earlier this year, Bangladesh Youth Economist Forum president Mirza Walid Hossain filed a writ petition against a reported plan to lease out the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) at Chattogram Port to Dubai-based DP World.

The court is expected to deliver its verdict on the writ petition on December 4. PTI AR SCY SCY