CHATTOGRAM, July 26: The construction of the long-awaited Bay Terminal of Chattogram seaport is likely to begin this year, hopes its implementing agency, the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA).
Land acquisition for the Bay Terminal is yet to be completed because the dispute over handing over 500 acres of Khas land by the Chattogram district administration is yet to be settled, though the construction work of the facility is scheduled to be completed in 2025.
Sources said Chattogram district administration was scheduled to hand over the land at a token price.
At last, Chattogram district administration fixed the price of 500 acres of khas land at Tk12.41 billion (Tk1,241 crore).
The CPA, however, appealed to the Ministry of Land to hand over the land at a token price again. Earlier in January 2022, Chattogram district administration had demanded Tk 36billion (Tk3,600 crore) for the land.
A high-level meeting held at the Shipping Ministry chaired by the ministry's Secretary Muhammad Mustafa Kamal on December 27, 2022, directed Chattogram district administration to hand over the land to the Ministry of land within one month at a token price.
The district administrations re-fixed the land price at Tk 12.41 billion (Tk1,241 crore), six months later in May in the current year (2023).
But the CPA again appealed to the Ministry of Land to hand over the land at a token price. The dispute over land price remained unresolved causing the delay in construction of the Bay Terminal.
CPA Secretary Omar Faruk said, "The construction of Bay Terminal may begin around in the current year after completion of the entire process including the detailed project proposal (DPP)."
He added, "There were a few issues over the land acquisition process which were resolved at the meeting of the Land Ministry on December 27 last and now the land acquisition process is almost at the final stage."
Meanwhile, CPA has signed an agreement with Sellhorn Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH, Germany and AQUA Consultant & Associates Ltd & KS Consultants Ltd, Bangladesh for selection of International Consultancy Firm for a detailed engineering design of breakwater for the Bay Terminal and to assess the actual volume of capital dredging including necessary studies following latest international standard for the construction of the Bay Terminal.
The agreement was signed at the board room of CPA on October 19 last.
The consulting firms- a Korean company named Kunhwa Consulting & Engineering Company Limited and Deyen Yang (DY) Engineering Company Limited- have submitted the master plan to the CPA.
Accordingly, the construction work of the Bay Terminal will start in the current year.
Sources said CPA came up with the plan around a decade ago.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the construction work in 2018. The acquisition of 67 acres of privately-owned land has been completed.
German and Bangladeshi firms conducted a feasibility study in 2016 that mentioned that the project will be implemented with government funds but later the government decided to build it under public-private partnership (PPP).
Three terminals will be constructed under the Bay Terminal project. One of these will be built with the funding of Chattogram port. The remaining two will be constructed on a PPP basis.
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