Benapole port users tag fee rise to dev

FE Team | Published: April 14, 2011 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Syful Islam
The users of Benapole land port have agreed on a nominal hike in port charges on condition that the authority carries out necessary development works at the port, officials said Wednesday. The clearing and forwarding (C and F) agents operating at the port agreed on the proposed hike at a meeting early this week with the members of a committee formed by the Ministry of Shipping. The agents demanded construction of by-pass roads, better loading and unloading facilities, and establishment of a hospital and a high school on the land port premises before raising the fees. The head of the committee and member (traffic) of Bangladesh Land Port Authority (BLPA) Irtiza Ahmed Choudhury told the FE Wednesday that the C and F agents have agreed on raising the user fees, provided that necessary development works are carried out. "We will forward the demands to the ministry. Later, the top officials of the ministry will hold meetings with the port-users to take decision on the proposed increase in fees." Statistics show that the user fee of Benapole land port in some cases is 110 per cent lower than other land ports. The Ministry of Shipping earlier formed a 10-member committee to bring uniformity in tariffs by raising the user fee of the country's biggest land port. Sources present in the meeting said the committee officials informed the C and F agents that if they did not agree on raising the user fee, the BLPA would give priority to the development of the nearest Bhomra land port instead of prioritising the Benapole land port. Statistics show that a truck, bus or lorry pays a fee of Tk 40.23 to enter the Benapole land port each time while the same pays Tk 73.87 tariff for each entry to Sonamasjid, Hili, Bibirbazar, Akhaura and Burimari land ports. A motor car, jeep, pick-up or three-wheeler pays Tk 16.10 for using Benapole once, while the charge is Tk 36.94 for using other land ports. For using a fork-lift outside the warehouse premises of the Benapole port, a user pays Tk 201.03 only, and the users of other ports pay Tk 443.24 for the same. The Benapole port accounts for nearly 80 per cent of the country's total trade with India through land ports. The land port handles the highest export-import volume after the Chittagong port. The user-fee of Benapole port is increased by five per cent every year since 2005, following an agreement with the government. The government's move to bring uniformity in port charges that time was foiled by the C and F agents, as they halted export-import activities through the port for 15 days. Sources said the land port authority has raised the number of sheds to 41, from 25 in 2005. Besides, since 2002 the authority has established sheds and transhipment yard, leased lands for expansion of the port, and constructed bypass road up to zero line. It has also prepared a plan to construct a terminal of international standard there. The BLPA directly operates Benapole, Akhaura and Burimari land ports. It gets 49 per cent of tariff from Sonamasjid and Hili ports, and 28.09 per cent from Teknaf port, as those are being operated by private operators.