Chittagong port: Gains under threat?

The immediate economic goal of the policymakers seems to be putting the country on a higher growth trajectory and thus help it reach the status of a middle income country (MIC).
The objective of the policymakers, undoubtedly, is a pious one. The sooner the goal is achieved the better for the greater good of the people, theoretically speaking.
The policymakers often tend to claim a radical change in the economic wellbeing of the people in the event of higher economic growth. However, the ground realities in some cases turn out to be different from the picture portrayed by the policymakers in public. The benefits of higher economic growth do not always reach all the people and all the regions equally. The outcome of higher economic growth in most cases remains skewed in nature.
Notwithstanding the flaws in the development efforts, the country needs higher economic growth. No matter how skewed the outcome of higher economic growth is found to be, the benefits would 'trickle down' to the poor at the grassroots and help them, to some extent, to come out of the vicious poverty cycle.
But there is no magic wand to take the country on a higher growth trajectory. Such an exercise becomes successful only when all the factors conducive to the growth of the economy are there. Such factors are inter-linked. For economic growth, a country, among others, needs resources, infrastructures, political stability, efficient legal system, efficient bureaucracy and good governance.
The quality of the factors mentioned above varies from one to another. But none is unlikely to differ with the contention that quality of none of the factors is up to the desired level in Bangladesh. The scorecards in some areas are really poor.
Truly speaking, under the prevailing circumstances, the achievements both in social and economic sectors baffle even experts. This has led many to be sceptical about the official data on various sectors of the economy.
However, undeniably, the people are now better off than what they had been 20 to 30 years back. Income inequality may have widened but the standard of living of all section of people has improved with a gradual increase in the per capita income.
The policymakers want to make the process of economic change faster. In doing so they will have to improve the factors without which there cannot be any higher economic growth.
Physical infrastructures do obviously play a key role in economic growth of a country. The seaports are infrastructures that are considered lifeline of the external trade of the country.
Where does Bangladesh stand as far as the efficiency level of its seaports is concerned? It is better to concentrate on the Chittagong port that handles more than 90 per cent of the external trade cargoes.
Country director of the World Bank Johannes Zutt while briefing the media recently underscored the need for raising the capacity of Bangladesh ports to match with the growth in external trade.  
"The capacity of the country's main port is still not enough to support the current growth of the gross domestic product (GDP). The external trade is growing year-on-year, but the port's capacity is not expanding", the WB country director said.  
None would contest what the WB official has underlined. The country's export and import would continue to grow and the port will be required to handle more and more cargoes. For that the efficiency level and capacity of the port will have to be enhanced.
But do the developments now taking place centring around the Chittagong port make anyone optimistic about a brighter future of the port?
After a gap of nearly seven years, anarchy, it seems, might return to the operation of the Chittagong port anytime.
The ultimatum issued by the Chittagong port protection council asking the Saif Power Tech Ltd. (SPTL), the berth operator at the Chittagong New Mooring Container Terminal (NMCT), to leave the Chittagong port by October 10 next is an ominous one.
The port protection council is headed by ex-mayor of Chittagong City Corporation and president of the Chittagong city unit of the ruling Awami League Mr. ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury.
The council has demanded cancellation of the licence granted to the Saif Tech to work as berth operator at the NMCT alleging irregularities in the selection process.
The council has threatened to destabilise the situation at the port if its demands are not met.
It would be really unfortunate if unrest which had been a daily affair prior to the military-backed rule of the caretaker administration between 2007 and 2008 returns to the port.
In fact a sort of anarchic situation prevailed for many years at the Chittagong port. Workers unions having political blessings reigned supreme and used to dictate terms. The efficiency level of the port nosedived, taking a heavy toll on the port users--- exporters and importers.  
The caretaker administration had taken special care to eliminate all sorts of anarchic activity from the port and ensure discipline in port operations. Despite slight slackening of the operational discipline, the port has performed relatively better than before for the last six years. That is now under threat
Businesses have already expressed their fear about possible deterioration of the situation at the Chittagong port. It is expected that the government would not allow anyone to do anything that would affect operational efficiency of the country's prime seaport and hurt external trade.  
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