Now Ctg Port Authority to run Newmooring Terminal

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Syful Islam The government decided to award the job of running the Newmooring Container Terminal (NCT) to the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) instead of handing over its operation to the private sector, official sources said. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recently approved a proposal to this effect as appointment of a private operator for the NCT was facing a legal barrier. A writ petition concerning appointment of the private operator is now pending with the High Court. During the period of August-September last year the CPA faced fierce agitations as several political groups as well as port users were locked into arguments over the bidding process for appointment of the private operator. Amid the trading of tirades, several law enforcement agencies apprehended disruption of port activities unless the concerned government high-ups intervened to stop the row. Officials said the government recently decided that the CPA would run the NCT by using its own equipment. Earlier, the parliamentary standing committee on the ministry of shipping (MoS) recommended that the CPA should procure equipment for the NCT with its own fund. Construction of the terminal having five berths was completed in 2007 at a cost of Tk 7.73 billion, but it could not be made operational till date because of the failure to appoint an operator. In August last year five local and international firms submitted bids to run the NCT on the supply-operate-transfer basis. But on appeals made by two international bidders alleging irregularities, the Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) review panel on August 29 last asked the CPA not to open the tender documents. Following the CPTU order, the managing director of Saif Powertec Ltd, one of the five bidders, filed a writ petition on August 30 with the High Court. At one stage in September last year the CPTU review panel asked the CPA to cancel the bidding process. Officials said the MoS recently requested the attorney general's office to take necessary steps for disposal of the writ petition. The Chittagong Port now has the capacity of handling 1.6 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers annually. On inauguration of the terminal the port's container handling capacity will rise considerably. Officials said the CPA would require about Tk 1.0 billion if it goes for procuring the equipment afresh to run the NCT.