Leaders of the Chattogram Bandar Rokkha Sangram Parishad decided late Sunday night to postpone their planned strike until February 15.  

Confirming the development around 12:10am, Parishad Coordinator Md Ibrahim Khokan told The Daily Star that both the shipping adviser and the BIDA chairman had already indicated in separate programmes in Dhaka that the deal over the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) lease would not be signed during the tenure of the interim government.  

Although the Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) took punitive action against 16 employee leaders earlier in the day, the Parishad decided to defer the strike originally scheduled to begin at 8:00am Monday.

The decision was made considering the upcoming national election and the need to release imported cargo ahead of Ramadan.  

Khokan assured that all operations will resume in the morning.