Transportation cost on Chittagong to Dhaka and other routes almost doubled on Wednesday due to a series of strikes enforced by the opposition parties across the country.
A huge consignment of imported goods remained stuck at the Chittagong Port due to transport scarcity created due to the strikes, pushing transport cost higher.
The transport operators were charging extra fare as demand for vehicles increased several times due to shutdown, alleged people who wanted to hire transports. They said most truckers were reluctant to ply their vehicles even soon after ending the hartal hours, fearing arson attack and vandalism on the highways.
Monir Ahmed, president of the Inter-district Truck Owners’ Association, told Dhaka Tribune that fare for a container lorry from Chittagong to Dhaka was Tk60, 000 on Wednesday afternoon, which was Tk30, 000 just a couple of weeks ago.
At the beginning of this month, fare for a truck was Tk15, 000 but now it was Tk35, 000 as the demand increased several times higher during strikes because of non-availability of transpiration. “Truckers dare not to ply their vehicles on the road in fear of arson attack and vandalism,” he said. Some 4,000 to 5,000 trucks and covered vans usually ply through Chittagong- Dhaka routes, according to Ahmed.
Mahabubul Alam, president of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said transportation cost for each kilogram of goods increased by at least Tk2. “Ultimately, consumers will have to bear the brunt of it.”
He said since lion’s share of the imported goods and raw materials of the country are unloaded in the Chottagong Port, strikes create huge piles of such goods in the port, leading to hamper the industrial production across the country.
As many as 1,600 to 1,800 TEUs (Twenty Equivalent Units) of containers is released at the country’s prime port, of which 70% is carried to Dhaka and other parts of the country, according to sources at the Chittagong Port Authority. They said 54% of the containers are being carried from Chittagong by road, 44% through waterways and only around 1% by train.
