The United Arab Emirate (UAE) Cargo Owners’ Association and Probashi Kallayan Parishad have sought the intervention of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for exempting warehouse charges on goods imported under Baggage Rules, which are lying for the last four months at the Chittagong’s Shah Amanat International Airport due to a legal tangle. Md Anwarul Ashraf Chowdhury, President of UAE Cargo Owners’ Association, and Sayed Musleah Uddin, President of Probashi Kallayan Parishad, came up with the demand at a press briefing arranged at Chittagong Press Club yesterday. They informed that they were unable to release 400 tonnes of various goods lying in the warehouse of Chittagong airport since the authorities demanded huge storage charges. They explained that under the current Baggage Rules, there is no mention about the weight of goods. However, customs officers demand huge revenue to release the goods. Due to a legal tangle, they were unable to release the goods and were slapped huge warehouse charges by the customs for each day that the goods were in storage. To release about 400 tonnes, the customs demanded about Tk4-5 crore as demurrage, much more than the price of goods, he said. Said Anwarul Ashraf Chowdhury, “Around 50 lakh expatriates are working in different professions in Middle East, Since most of them are from the low income category, they cannot visit the country regularly. To meet the demand from family, they send necessary goods, but have been unable to do so for the last four months.” “We are facing legal tangle over the baggage rules and have demanded enactment of new Baggage Rules helpful to expatriates,” said Ashraf. In a written statement, Anwarul Ashraf Chowdhury said, “The Prime Minister will come forward to solve the problem of remittance.” “She (PM) always takes information on expatriates and calls them golden men. We know she is very kind-hearted and affectionate; we are like her sons. Only you (PM) can solve the problem of expatriates. Being empathetic and tolerant, we want your intervention to exempt the warehouse demurrage of Chittagong airport,” said Anwarul Ashraf Chowdhury. During the press briefing, Azam Talukdar, General Secretary and Md Khurshed Alam, Publication Secretary UAE Cargo Owners’ Association and SM Moinul Hossain, General Secretary and Md Abu Taher, Publication Secretary of Probashi Kallayan Parishad were present among others.
