Growing discontent in Port Sudan: activist interrogated

On Saturday the chairman of a popular committee that opposes the sale of four historical school buildings in Port Sudan to investors was summoned by the police. Workers of the Southern Port in Port Sudan started an open-ended strike on the same day. Chairman Ja’afar Abdel Gader was called to the police office on Saturday after the security service had filed a complaint against him for ‘disturbing’ a rally of the Red Sea State Governor on 19 May. Governor  Mohamed Taher Eila had planned to address a crowd in Haya locality in the state, but angry citizens started to throw stones, demanding the Governor to step down. Abdel Gader was released after interrogation. To Radio Dabanga he strongly denied any of the accusations. “We had a demonstration last Thursday that was dispersed by government forces using teargas. But I had nothing to do with the events during the rally.” He said that he had repeated to the police during the interrogation that the people of Port Sudan are furious about the Governor’s decision to sell the schools, and that he himself will not stop protesting against the sale. The Red Sea State’s government is planning to use the school plots for investment projects. The tension in Port Sudan against the Governor’s policies is building up. On 4 May, a group of citizens in the Red Sea State launched a “million signatures campaign” with the purpose to remove Governor from his post. Students protested more than once against the deteriorating living conditions, and parents of children of the four schools for sale have staged various protests the past weeks. Open-ended strike Last Saturday workers and employees of the Containers Transportation Department of the Southern Port in Port Sudan entered an open-end strike protesting their low salaries, temporary contracts and the payment of delayed allowances. The strike immediately led to an accumulation of containers on the pavements of the Southern Port. File photo: Port Sudan citizens protesting against the sale of four historical schools in the city’s centre, 5 May 2014 Related:Citizens derail Governor’s rally in eastern Sudan (21 May 2014)Protests in Port Sudan against sale of schools (19 May 2014) Students arrested in Khartoum, flogged in Port Sudan (14 May 2014) ’Million signatures campaign’ to remove governor, protests in eastern Sudan (6 May 2014)