Appointment of NCT operator uncertain

CHITTAGONG: Appointment of an operator for the newly-built NCT (Newmooring Container Terminal) faces uncertainty over the modality of running the terminal either by an international or local operator.
Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) is likely to face a heated debate in the port's advisory committee meeting today (Wednesday).
Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Shipping Ministry Major (rtd) Rafiqul Islam, member of the committee MA Latif, Shipping Minister M Shajahan Khan, Shipping Secretary Syed Monjurul Islam and CPA Chairman Rear Admiral Nizamuddin Ahmed in a latest move decided not to procure equipment for the NCT and run it by private operators to be picked through international tender.   
Chairman of Chittagong Port Authority Real Admiral Nizamuddin Ahmed earlier said that the port might face a problem if the NCT remains inoperative for a long time.
The CPA had floated international tenders to appoint an operator for the NCT but the bidding received poor responses. Forty-three parties purchased pre-qualification documents but only seven submitted tenders and four of them qualified.
The port authority and the shipping ministry then revised some eligibility requirements in terms of technical and financial capability of the bidders, to increase participation. Later the Central Procurement Technical Unit stopped the process to review a complaint of a bidder.
Shipping Minister M Shajahan Khan, members of the parliamentary standing committee on the Shipping Ministry, Secretary of the Ministry of Shipping, berth operators and ship handling operators, trade body leaders from Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chittagong Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, BGMEA, BKMEA, C&F Agents Association, senior officials of the CPA and labour leaders of the port are expected to attend the port advisory committee meeting to be held at the Circuit House in Chittagong.
Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Shipping Ministry Major (rtd) Rafiqul Islam has been invited to the meeting but he may not be able to attend the meeting for pre-occupied schedules, CPA sources said.
Officials in the Chittagong Port Authority have said they are preparing tender documents as per recommendations of the parliamentary standing committee to invite quotations from the expert international bidders or in joint venture of the local bidders and foreign firms on the basis of 51:49 per sent shares.
President of the ruling Awami League's Chittagong city unit ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury has sought the Prime Minister's intervention in the issue on security grounds.
In a letter sent yesterday (Monday) to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) he said that handling the NCT by a foreign operator on the long-term for 25 to 30 years would compromise the security and interest of the port and put the government in trouble.
He said that the decision to undo the earlier approval of Sheikh Hasina's government and recruit a foreign operator was taken during the past BNP-Jamaat alliance government.
"A kind of dual authority will be formed in the port. Foreign pressure in the NCT will lead to uneven competition with the CCT (Chittagong Container Terminal) and 12 general berths which are now being operated by the local operators," he said.
The project to construct the NCT with the financing from the Chittagong Port Authority was approved by the ECNEC (Executive Committee of the National Economic Council) during the Awami League's tenure in 1999, he added.
The port authority had earlier decided to run the NCT itself by procuring handling equipment worth around Tk 12.00 billion but it has been strongly opposed by the parliamentary standing committee headed by Major (rtd) Rafiqul Islam Bir Uttam.
Due to a difference of opinion on how the terminal should be run, the terminal has remained idle for almost six years since it was built in late 2008.
Construction of the 1000-meter terminal began in 2003 by evacuating a port residential block in the New Mooring area occupied by a section of the port employees.