At a meeting yesterday, it also advised the shipping ministry to implement within the next 30 days a set of recommendations it made, aimed at bringing the port back to normal operation.

The Jatiya Sangsad (JS) standing committee on shipping ministry also questioned the ministry's sincerity to make the port functional.

One of the JS body's recommendations is for downsizing the port staff from over 4.5 thousand at the moment to 2,000 men.

The second seaport of the land is overburdened with a too large staff, remarked the lawmakers and directed the ministry to take immediate steps to get rid of the extra workforce.

Mongla port is held hostage by criminals, observed the committee members, and came up with the unanimous recommendation for Rab deployment to prevent crime, watch over port operations and relieve it of Mafioso.

Abdul Jalil, chairman of Mongla Municipality and convenor of the Save Mongla Movement, raised allegations against Shipping Minister Akbar Hossain, accusing him of neglecting the port.

"In the last three and a half year, you visited Chittagong Port hundreds of times, but the port at Mongla only twice" he asked the minister at the meeting.

"We have already asked the home ministry to take actions against the Mafioso, committee chairman G M Siraj told reporters after the meet. "Home is investigating it and we hope will take action this month based on the probe findings."

"The number of criminals lording it over at the port they control might be around 200. But we have sent to Home specific allegations against 11 Mafia-men," Siraj said.

The home ministry on March 15 sent the list of Mafioso to the inspector general of police to take actions, sources said.

But, Siraj is convinced that "The local police administration does not have the capacity to act against the Mafioso or the criminals."

Sources said the parliamentary body criticised the shipping ministry's reluctance to make the port functional.

"Honourable minister, why are you ignoring our demands for initiating steps to make the port functional," Khulna City Corporation Mayor Taibur Rahman asked Akbar at the meeting.

In response, Akbar told the JS body to implement the recommendations by itself, meeting sources said.

Faulting the minister's remarks, the meeting reminded him that they are not executives. "We have the authority to advise and recommend. It's the ministry's job to plan and implement the recommendations," a committee member said, with others echoing him.

"We've decided to save the port and the ministry has to carry out the task," the committee chairman told reporters.