CPA unlikely to develop KCT demolishing existing GCB now

The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) is unlikely to develop the Karnaphuli Container Terminal (KCT) by demolishing the existing General Cargo Berths (GCB) right now to keep the country's prime seaport operational, officials have said.
The demolition of the existing GCB may hamper the current handling process in the port. So, steps regarding development of KCT would not be taken until alternative facilities are created to compensate the capacity to be lost due to the demolition, they added.   
The CPA officials in a recent letter to the Trade and Transport Facilitation Department of the World Bank communicated their views regarding the bank's proposal to develop KCT in place of GCB.
Sources said a seven-member World Bank (WB) team led by Diep Nguyen-van Houtte, Senior Transport Specialist of Trade and Transport Facilitation visited Chittagong port in May last. During the visit the team members had meetings with CPA officials regarding further capacity building of the port aiming to trade facilitation. They also had discussion regarding development of KCT with financial assistance of WB. Following the discussion the WB team sent a formal proposal to the CPA in June last.
Besides, a WB team has been conducting pre-feasibility study on KCT since March this year. The WB is also supposed to conduct techno-economic feasibility study on the KCT project.
After reviewing the WB proposal, the CPA officials found that demolition of the GCB at this stage will seriously hamper the current handling process of the port, sources said.
The GCB area handled 0.783 million TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) of containers  in fiscal year 2013-14 out of a total of 47.3 million tonnes of general cargo while 1.62 million TEUs of containers were handled by the port. During the fiscal year the port saw 9.06 per cent general cargo handling growth and 10.68 per cent container handling growth.
The port has the capacity to handle up to 2.9 million TEUs of containers with the existing facilities including the GCB operation.
CPA officials predict that the trend of traffic growth through Chittagong port will continue as the country's external trade is increasing day by day.
They said demolition and removal of huge scrapped materials will consume considerable time delaying the project work significantly. They also said intervention in the existing operational facilities of the port is not expected at this stage.
"To cater to the growing demand it seems wise to explore new areas for expansion of port facilities including construction of container terminal in and around the existing port area keeping the current operational activities in GCB area uninterrupted," the letter sent to the WB reads.     
It also said a proposal for construction of a bulk terminal at Laldiar Char area under public private partnership (PPP) is under active consideration of the government. The area has sufficient space for construction of 1,000-meter long terminal and around 150,000 square meters container yard.
Besides, the CPA is planning for expansion and creation of facilities at the western part of North Halishahar through developing a terminal namely, "Bay Terminal Area". Some 1,000 acres of land will be acquired to develop the terminal.