Act to establish deep-seaport authority soon

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Nazmul Ahsan
The government has plans to adopt an act soon to facilitate the creation of a deep-seaport authority for the proposed deep-seaport at Sonadia, Cox's bazaar.
The deep-seaport, to be designed as a regional port, would help minimize the transportation cost of country's export-import activities, according to the draft of the act.
The draft act has proposed the formation of a company that would be responsible for mobilizing funds from the capital market and from other local and foreign sources for the construction of the port. A 20-member governing body, led by the shipping minister, and a five-member executive board to implement the decision of governing body will be established, the draft act said.
The deep-seaport authority act, 2010 will be sent to the Cabinet Division soon for approval, a top official in the Ministry of Shipping (MoS) said.
The governing body to be established under the proposed act will be responsible for fixing the charges and fees for the port users. The draft act also empowers it to arrange bank loans from local sources and negotiate with foreign donor agencies to mobilize funds for the construction of the proposed seaport, the act said further.
The development of the proposed deep-seaport will be completed in three phases; the first phase, to be completed by the fiscal 2015-16, will involve an expenditure of about $ 2.0 billion, a top MoS official said.
The government may bear as much as 30 per cent of the total cost, while the major part will be arranged from foreign sources, he added.
"We are hopeful the act will be approved by the highest authority of the government by next month," the official said.
"The deep-seaport will reduce cost of transportation of the country's export and import by at least 15 per cent, making the same competitive in the international markets."
The port has the potential to become a major hub in the region by offering services to Nepal, Bhutan, southern China, Myanmar and the northeastern region of India, another official in the MoS said.
The first phase of the proposed deep-seaport will involve the construction of approximately 1.95km and 2.25 km long two breakwaters. Besides, there will be a 3.7 km-long dredged channel having a width of 400 metres and a depth of 14 metres, he said.
The port will be designed in such a way that it can handle seagoing vessels having a length up to 300 metres length and draught 14 metres.
Meanwhile, the government has sought $1.2 billion assistance from China to build the port.
The port is expected to have the capacity to handle 3.0 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) and bulk cargo of 100 million tonnes.
The executive board will have the authority to acquire land for building the proposed port and the company to be formed under the proposed act will be authorized to run the activities of the port on commercial basis, according to the draft act, 2010.
The said company may undertake initiatives to arrange the required fund through public-private partnership concept, the draft added.