The government is set to cancel the licences of nearly a half of the 32 private companies, given approval to import or build container vessels for inland water transport sector, sources said.
The decision is taken, as some 11 companies are yet to start any activities relating to either importing or building vessels. Besides, some six companies have only submitted documents to the department of shipping (DoS), but in reality have done nothing to arrange vessel, they added.
These companies were awarded licences in September 2011 to build or import container carrying vessels mainly to use on the Chittagong-Pangaon route.
The newly-built Pangaon ICT (Inland Container Terminal) remained virtually non-operational even after seven months of its inauguration due to lack of adequate container vessel and some other technical reasons.
Officials said the companies were given licence under seven conditions, but most of them have failed to comply with those.
The companies were to submit invoice and ship specification copies to DoS within six months from the date of issuance of licence. The importers were to open letter of credit (LC) within four months of the submission of paper.
But all the companies have failed to turn up with the documents within the deadline. They also missed several deadlines in last more than three and half years regarding building or importing vessels.
Amid repeated failures by the companies, DoS last time ordered them to comply with the conditions by April 30 this year. At the same time the department also warned the companies that their licences will be cancelled in case of further failure.
In the face of the government's warning only 10 licence-holders fulfilled the requirements, while 10 others made little progress 'on papers' only, and the rest 12 made no progress at all over the years.
Sources said at a meeting at the ministry of shipping (MoS) on Monday the DoS officials informed the participants that four container vessels, from the 32 license-obtaining companies from the private sector and nine from the public sector, will be ready to join the Chittagong-Pangaon route, if everything goes according to plan.
Of the four vessels, two are being built by Bangladesh Navy, while two others are coming from a private company.
A senior DoS official, quoting the meeting discussion, told the FE Tuesday that some 12 to 18 more months will be needed by the private and public sector entities to complete building or importing vessels.
He said the meeting also decided that specification requirements of the vessels will be strictly followed, and no compromise will be allowed in this regard.
Another DoS official said usually it takes maximum 15 to 16 months to build a container vessel. But the license-holders were somehow reluctant to comply with the conditions, since they are inexperienced and selected mainly under political considerations.
He said the Pangaon ICT could not start its full-fledged operation due to lack of necessary vessels. He blamed the failure of the public and private sector entities to arrange required container vessels to make the Pangaon-Chittagong route functional.
The official also said the Chittagong Port has imported three container vessels for plying the route. Of the three vessels, only one is full-class ship, while the class of the rest two is yet to be identified by the authority concerned.
Govt to cancel licences of 16 cos
Syful Islam | Published: July 17, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
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