Despite an order from the PM to stop anarchy at Sadarghat, passengers are still facing harassment on a regular basis. Passengers allege that collies or porters are forcibly taking Tk 100 and even Tk 500 from passengers whereas the set amount is Tk 10. For many passengers, the river port Sadarghat is synonymous to a terrifying experience.
But local porters and collies deny these accusations while the authority says that steps will be taken once there’s specific complaint.
When a launch stops at the jetty, the coolies rush in droves and each one goes to a passenger and hold their luggage. Even if the passenger says that there is no need they respond, “It’s our duty to bring down your luggage, we have taken this job after spending a lot of money.”
To avoid embarrassment in front of family, many are forced to take porters and end up paying ten times more than the stipulated amount.
The Ansar members on duty remain silent; when arguments ensue between porters and passengers, they take the role of spectators.
Joint director of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, BIWTA, Alamgir Hossain, said: “That is not my responsibility but I will say that porters will only be able to take charge of luggage once, the passenger gives his/her consent.”
Sadarghat has 290 collies and 170 porters. But there are others who got the job by ‘satisfying’ influential people. But these coolies do not have identification numbers.
A coolie, Ashraf Ali, observes: “Unless the passengers get off, we cannot offload commercial items; so before the commercial products are brought down, we make some extra cash by helping passengers.”
We fix the rate beforehand and the accusation that an exorbitant rate is imposed on passengers is false, he added.
During the last government, the PM had said that instead of leasing Sadarghat for Tk 30 million and seeing people being harassed, it’s better to give services to 30 million people.
State minister for shipping, Khaled Mahmud Chowdhury, adds: “Compared to the past, the situation has improved at Sadarghat; there may be some isolated incidents where passengers were pestered but if we get specific complaints, we will take action.”