Workers resumed loading and unloading of good at Hili land port yesterday noon following fruitful talks with port authority, district police administration and truck owners.
Earlier on the day, Police Superintendent Md Moinul Islam held a meeting with the officials of Panama Hili Port Link Ltd, truck owners and truckers in the port area.
In the meeting, truck owners and truckers agreed to abide by the rules of Panama Hili Port Link Ltd inside the port area. Truck owners assured the port authority and police superintendent that from now on the truckers, not helpers will run their vehicles inside the port.
Workers stopped loading and unloading of good on Thursday afternoon following death of a fellow worker under the wheels of a truck inside the port.
The incident occurred when the workers were unloading goods from an Indian truck at around 1:30pm. Suddenly, a Bangladeshi truck ploughed through the area, killing a worker named Nawshed on the spot and injuring two others.
Protesting the death of Nawshed, took out a procession inside the port and vandalised three trucks. They also and assaulted several staff of Panama Hili Port Link Ltd, a private port operator at Hili land port under Hakimpur upazila of the district.
Being informed, police and members of the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control.
The angry workers alleged that the accident occurred when a helper was parking the truck inside the port. They demanded immediate arrest of the trucker and his helper who managed to fled the port areas soon after the accident.
Md Nuru Sardar, a leader of the port workers, claimed that two workers were killed by trucks inside the port in the last eight months.
Nuru Sardar demanded that the port authority impose a ban on driving trucks inside the port by the helpers.
Source : The Daily Star
