Berth operators amass billions of taka thru' unfair means
Thursday, 10 June 2010
Sheikh Shahariar Zaman
Berth operators earned huge sum of extra money running into billions of Taka in the last three years through realising exorbitant fees for handling cargoes at the port.
"The operators realised Tk 730 for handling a container whereas we received tender proposal to do the same task at a price of Tk 75 only," said a Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) official.
The CPA recently floated tender to appoint berth oper-ators at six container and six general cargo jetties at the port to reduce the cargo handling cost.
The operators collected over Tk 190 million for handling a berth for three years but in the tender document the lowest bidder quoted only Tk 17.2 million for the job, the official said.
"They collected huge amount of money out of charging exorbitant fees which they should not have done," he added.
The appointment of the operators at the jetties will be completed by next month for the consideration that it will immensely benefit the trade in the country, the official said.
Twelve berth operators worked without tender for the last three years as they were appointed during the period of the caretaker government (CG) in May 2007 to improve the efficiency of the port.
But they charged excessive fees from the port users which ultimately increased the trade cost.
The CPA took over charge of the Chittagong Port last month and took steps to appoint the operators through inviting tender.
Fifty-one bidders took part in the tender and the lowest bidder quoted Tk 75 to handle one container.
Handling of a ton of cargo at the general jetties will come down to Tk 10 to Tk 12 from over Tk 70 after the appointment of the berth operators.
"One operator quoted Tk 24.4 million each for handling four general berths, another operator quoted Tk 20.9 million for one berth and another Tk 19.9 million for one berth for three years," said another CPA official.
Following a High Court directive to suspend the operations of berth operators at the Chittagong Port, the CPA started to manage cargo handling on its own from last month.
The turn around time increased to 3.3 days in May from 2.6 days in April, which means on an average, a ship had to wait additional 17 hours in May.
Container handling charge was as high as Tk 2200 in early 2000 which came down to Tk 1200 in 2005-06.
The Chittagong port, the main seaport of the country, handles about 90 per cent of the total trade of Bangladesh and achieved an 8.55 per cent container handling growth in the last calendar year due to rise in import volume.
The port handled 1,161,469 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in 2009 against 1,069,999 TEUs, port statistics show.
Berth operators earned huge sum of extra money running into billions of Taka in the last three years through realising exorbitant fees for handling cargoes at the port.
"The operators realised Tk 730 for handling a container whereas we received tender proposal to do the same task at a price of Tk 75 only," said a Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) official.
The CPA recently floated tender to appoint berth oper-ators at six container and six general cargo jetties at the port to reduce the cargo handling cost.
The operators collected over Tk 190 million for handling a berth for three years but in the tender document the lowest bidder quoted only Tk 17.2 million for the job, the official said.
"They collected huge amount of money out of charging exorbitant fees which they should not have done," he added.
The appointment of the operators at the jetties will be completed by next month for the consideration that it will immensely benefit the trade in the country, the official said.
Twelve berth operators worked without tender for the last three years as they were appointed during the period of the caretaker government (CG) in May 2007 to improve the efficiency of the port.
But they charged excessive fees from the port users which ultimately increased the trade cost.
The CPA took over charge of the Chittagong Port last month and took steps to appoint the operators through inviting tender.
Fifty-one bidders took part in the tender and the lowest bidder quoted Tk 75 to handle one container.
Handling of a ton of cargo at the general jetties will come down to Tk 10 to Tk 12 from over Tk 70 after the appointment of the berth operators.
"One operator quoted Tk 24.4 million each for handling four general berths, another operator quoted Tk 20.9 million for one berth and another Tk 19.9 million for one berth for three years," said another CPA official.
Following a High Court directive to suspend the operations of berth operators at the Chittagong Port, the CPA started to manage cargo handling on its own from last month.
The turn around time increased to 3.3 days in May from 2.6 days in April, which means on an average, a ship had to wait additional 17 hours in May.
Container handling charge was as high as Tk 2200 in early 2000 which came down to Tk 1200 in 2005-06.
The Chittagong port, the main seaport of the country, handles about 90 per cent of the total trade of Bangladesh and achieved an 8.55 per cent container handling growth in the last calendar year due to rise in import volume.
The port handled 1,161,469 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in 2009 against 1,069,999 TEUs, port statistics show.