The government is likely to take a few measures to make the Pangaon inland container terminal (ICT) fully operational if existing measures fail to yield any tangible results in next two months, officials have said.
"The government will observe operational activities of the ICT until June next. If the activities of the terminal are found below the expected level, we'll consider issuance of certain directives to the shipping agents requiring them to use the terminal," a top official at the ministry of shipping (MoS) told the FE.
A meeting in this connection was held at the ministry on March 20 last. Representatives of different shipping agents were present in the meeting.
A source said the meeting had discussed the option of making it mandatory to deliver 50 per cent of raw cotton and capital machinery through the terminal.
"The MoS will ask the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to issue freight forwarding licences to shipping agents on the condition that they will deliver 50 per cent of their raw cotton and capital machinery through the terminal," he said.
The ministry also might ask the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) to raise the free time from four days to 10 for raw cotton and capital machinery.
Setting up a centre providing fumigation opportunities at the ICT to attract the traders concerned was also discussed in the meeting.
Members of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) might also be requested to take delivery of their imported cotton through the newly-built terminal, according to the minutes of the meeting.
The government already issued licences to 38 private shipping agents that would use the Pangaon ICT, the ministry sources said.
The authority is trying to increase use of the modern terminal by the shipping agents by making it attractive to the traders and also by motivating them.
Presently, traders are not showing any interest in using the terminal as transportation of goods between the Chittagong port and the ICT takes much longer time than that the transportation by road requires. So, there has not been that much operational activity at the terminal after its inauguration. A ship takes about 17 hours to reach Pangaon from the Chittagong port, according to industry insiders.
The CPA has initially procured three container vessels for the ICT constructed on the bank of the Buriganga at Pangaon under Keraniganj.
The CPA built it in association with the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA).
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina formally inaugurated the ICT in early November last year.
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