{"id":12085,"date":"2025-06-29T18:04:01","date_gmt":"2025-06-29T18:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=12085"},"modified":"2025-06-29T18:04:01","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T18:04:01","slug":"strike-halts-operations-at-bangladeshs-largest-port-amid-tax-authority-dispute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=12085","title":{"rendered":"Strike halts operations at Bangladesh\u2019s largest port amid tax authority dispute"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>Operations at Bangladesh\u2019s biggest port were suspended on Sunday as a strike by customs officials brought shipping activity to a halt.<\/p>\n<p>The shutdown at Chittagong Port is part of an ongoing dispute between tax authority employees and the government, which is trying to overhaul the body.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe port typically handles around 7,000 to 8,000 containers daily\u2026 But since this morning, there has been no movement in offloading or onboarding of goods,\u201d said Mohammed Omar Faruq, secretary of the Chittagong Port Authority.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is having a huge impact on the country\u2019s economic situation,\u201d he told AFP.<\/p>\n<p>Bangladesh is the world\u2019s second-largest garment manufacturer, while textile and garment production accounts for about 80 percent of the country\u2019s exports.<\/p>\n<p>Mahmud Hasan Khan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said the halt in port operations would cost the industry $222 million.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe cost of recovery will be staggering \u2013 beyond comprehension \u2013 and many factories risk going bankrupt,\u201d he told AFP.<\/p>\n<p>Staff at the National Board of Revenue (NBR) have been striking on and off for weeks over plans to split the authority into two separate bodies.<\/p>\n<p>Bangladesh\u2019s interim leader, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, urged them to end the walkout.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe hope NBR\u2019s staff will report back to work setting aside their unlawful programme that goes against the national interest of the country,\u201d his office said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOtherwise for the sake of the people of this country and safeguarding the economy the government will be left with no option but to act firmly,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n<p>NBR staff were prevented from entering their offices on Sunday after a government order sought to stop them from protesting within their building premises.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, 13 business chambers held a press conference on Saturday urging the government to resolve the issue as soon as possible.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Operations at Bangladesh\u2019s biggest port were suspended on Sunday as a strike by customs officials brought shipping activity to a halt. The shutdown at Chittagong Port is part of an ongoing dispute between tax authority employees and the government, which is trying to overhaul the body. \u201cThe port typically handles around 7,000 to 8,000 containers [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12085\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}