Business grinds to a halt

Goods trucks remain stranded at Karwan Bazar in Dhaka yesterday. The vehicles that arrived at the kitchen market before the opposition’s blockade could not leave the city for fear of street violence. Photo: Star

The economy has started to bleed as the ongoing countrywide blockade enforced by the opposition has begun to hit the country’s businesses from all fronts.
Imported goods have piled up at Chittagong port. Essential commodities cannot be sent from depots to faraway locations. Transport of goods has become riskier; the cost has also gone through the roof.
The disrupted supply of rice, vegetables and other key commodities to the capital and other parts of the country means their prices will soar.
Exports have taken a hit as transport of garment products, the lifeline of the economy, and other exportable goods from factories to Chittagong port have come to a standstill.
Business leaders said they are helpless due to the political parties’ continuous disregard to their demand for a solution to the current crisis.
“The nationwide blockade is ruining our export prospects and business growth,” said Abdus Salam Murshedy, president of Exporters Association of Bangladesh.
“Some factories can’t go for production as they fail to bring raw materials from the port city due to blockades,” he said.
He said small factory owners might go bankrupt if they fail to clear shipment on time. “We are heading towards a tough time.”
Mahbubul Alam, president of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said products that were unloaded at the Chittagong port got stuck on the port premises.
“We could not bring our goods to warehouses. The delivery of essential commodities from Khatunganj to faraway destinations has come to a halt,” he said.
He said sales at Khatunganj, one of the main wholesale commodity trading depots in Chittagong, almost halved to Tk 150 crore-Tk 200 crore yesterday.
Bakhtiar Uddin Ahmed, general manager of Narayanganj-based Fakir Apparels, said eight goods-laden trucks carrying four lakh pieces of knitwear items were supposed to go to the port on Monday, but those vehicles got stuck in Comilla and Feni.
For garment exporters, the only option is expensive air shipment.
MA Jabbar, managing director of DBL Group, a leading garment maker, said they have stopped sending exportable products to the port.
Production, particularly in the Ashulia-based factories, was hampered seriously as raw materials could not enter the factories on time, garment makers said.
Nirdon Boron Saha, president of Naogaon Paddy and Rice Wholesale Traders Association, said delivery of rice from the wholesale hub came to a halt.
“It will cause the rice prices to fall here because of huge stocks,” he said.
The blockade also hit Moulvibazar wholesale market, a popular destination in the capital for those who purchase essentials such as cooking oil, sugar, lentil, wheat and spices in bulk.
Abdur Razzaque, president of Moulvibazar Wholesale Market Association, said customers, especially from outside the capital, are not coming to the market fearing violence.
“Besides, we cannot make delivery of the goods due to a lack of transport.”
The market, which houses around 10,000 small stores, normally sells commodities worth Tk 500 crore a day. But the amount dropped to Tk 20-25 crore yesterday, Razzaque said, adding that the traders were now offering double the fare to hire vehicles.
On a normal day, traders pay Tk 15,000 for carrying 15 tonnes of goods from Chittagong to Dhaka, according to Razzaque. “But now, we are paying around Tk 32,000.”
The supply to the city’s kitchen markets was not unscathed as well.
“Very few trucks are expected to enter the Karwan Bazar kitchen market during the blockades as farmers are not getting vehicles to carry their goods to the city,” said Lokman Hossain, general secretary of Karwan Bazar Kitchen Market Wholesalers Association.
He said the prices of kitchen items might soar if the ongoing countrywide blockade lingers.
Shaheen Khan, chief operating officer of Meena Bazar, a leading chain store, said their daily sales fall by a half even if they keep the stores open amid high risks.
“Sales are so low that we will not be able to cover our operational costs.”
Businesspeople said they do not understand where the country was heading to.
“A political tsunami is going on in the country,” said Sabur Khan, president of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Mahbubur Rahman, president of International Chamber of Commerce-Bangladesh, said whenever the business community raises their voices, they are told that “it is not their cup of tea”.
“But it is also our cup of tea because the business as well as the economy suffers the most when shutdowns and blockades are enforced,” he said.