Sudan Port Workers Protest Affiliation to Federal Government
(AWP) - A panel against the privatization of Sudan’s Seaports Corporation sayts that its calls for a strike at all seaports nationwide has succeeded, noting that the strike includes the southern and northern ports, as well as Sawakin port and others on the Red Sea.
The committee pointed out that maritime rescue operations, military storage, and aid and relief ships for those affected by the war were excluded from the strike.
The committee called for a 24-hour strike to reject a decision by the transitional cabinet to shift the affiliation of some employees to the federal government, instead of to the Seaports Corporation.
Othman Taher, the Chairman of the Committee on Combating Privatization of the Seaports Corporation, said that all departments have gone on a strike, which is a 100 percent success.
“We are sticking to the demands we sent earlier to the Transitional Sovereignty Council (TSC) pertaining to reversal of decisions on the Seaports Corporation. We also want a committee to be set up to draft a law that would grant the Seaports Corporation full independence,” he added.
“Tomorrow, the strike will end, as we announced. If there is no response to our demands regarding the abolition of decisions in a matter of 72 hours, there will be a second strike, extending for more than 24 hours,” stressed Taher.
The Beja Tribes Chiefs Supreme Council and independent clans leaders, in a statement, appealed to the TSC to cancel the decision to avoid a “schism.”
Sudan’s port revenues have plunged by 60 per cent as a result of the war between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), as well as the tensions in the Red Sea, where the Houthi group has been targeting ships in the Strait of Bab al-Mandab.