Arrangements for extra security on the highways for transportation of export goods to Chittagong during hartal got lukewarm response from apparel makers, who still do not dare to take products out of factories and send those to port by road.
Despite the ongoing hartal, apparel makers have started sending goods from Dhaka to the Chittagong port with the help of a highway police escort, in a bid to avert cancellation of shipments.
The BGMEA has taken all the necessary measures to send readymade garment products for shipment through Chittagong port, a BGMEA source said.
“One truck has been ready and five covered vans loaded with export goods of Islam Group are expected to start for Chittagong from Kanchpur tonight,” said a BGMEA official last night. He said police refused to give escort service to trucks after 10pm considering the time needed for reaching the port before dawn.
Some 25 companies had registered with the BGMEA for the police escort service on Monday. But finally only seven covered vans laden with RMG export products left Dhaka for the port city Monday night.
On a usual day, some 1,500 trucks carry export goods to Chittagong Port during day and night hours.
A section of factory owners did not want to run the risk as some of them already faced losses after their goods-laden trucks were torched, the source added.
Traditionally, the country’s major export product readymade garments are kept out of the hartal purview. Though factories continue their production on hartal days, covered vans loaded with export and import goods are frequently come under arson attacks during hartal hours.
A number of container lorries loaded with apparels for export were vandalised and set ablaze near Sitakunda on their way to the Chittagong Port Monday morning.
A few exporters had to take the risk to meet shipment deadline and keep business contacts alive with foreign buyers.
“We have agreed to send covered vans for shipment of RMG products as law enforcers assured us of protection from vandalism through highway police escort,” said Rustom Ali Khan, secretary general of Bangladesh Truck and Covered Van Owners Association. He said a 25-truck convoy would travel to Chittagong under police escort.
During a meeting with business leaders on Thursday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina assured them of security for transporting goods by road during hartal.
On Sunday, it was decided that covered vans carrying garment items would travel between Dhaka and Chittagong with a highway police escort from Monday, despite the 84-hour hartal called by the BNP-led 18-party alliance.
The decision was taken at a meeting with Inspector General of Police Hassan Mahmood Khandker in the chair at the police headquarters. Senior officials of the police, Rapid Action Battalion and Border Guard Bangladesh, were also present at the meeting.
Presidents of Truck Owners Association and Van Owners Association also attended the meeting.
“We have requested the law enforcement agencies to provide security so that we can ship our goods,” BGMEA President Atiqul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune over phone.
IGP Hassan Mahmood Khandker also told the Dhaka Tribune, “We have agreed to provide necessary security to goods-laden vehicles plying the Dhaka and Chittagong highway.
“It is our duty to ensure the safety and security of the people and I hope that they too will cooperate with the law enforcement agencies,” the IGP said.
The BGMEA president said if the port remained inactive, the economy of the country would suffer badly.
Meanwhile, the latest 84-hour hartal has worsened the damages to the export industry, which has already suffered during the combined 120-hour shutdowns of the two previous spells.
“Our goods are ready but we cannot shift and it is a big problem,” BGMEA chief Atiqul pointed out. Fifty trucks was a small number compared to the 1,500 trucks that usually ply between Dhaka and Chittagong every day, he said.
Officials close to the decision-makers said escorts would be positioned between every five trucks, while highway police would also remain active.
Additional law enforcers would also be deployed at sensitive spots on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway, officials said.