Ctg port braces for higher target

The ministry of shipping (MoS) has set a target of handling 54.50 million tonnes of goods at the the country's prime seaport in the next fiscal year, up by nearly 7.0 per cent, officials have said.
In the current fiscal year the goods handling target for the Chittagong port was set at 51 million tonnes, which was surpassed by April last much ahead of the time, according to the officials.
On the other hand, for the next fiscal year the revenue earnings target is set at Tk 18 billion (1,800 crore), up by Tk 1.80 billion from the current fiscal's Tk 16.20 billion. Besides, the revenue surplus target is set at Tk 9.50 billion against Tk 9.0 billion for the current fiscal year.  
A senior MoS official told the FE that the Chittagong port officials would be given incentive bonus, provided they can attain 107.50 per cent of the goods handling target, earn 102.50 per cent of the revenue target and meet 100 per cent of the revenue surplus target.
According to the officials, during the July-April period of the current fiscal year the port handled 52.241 million tonnes of goods against the annual target of 51 million tonnes. Besides, during the same period it earned Tk 16.60 billion in revenue against the annul target of Tk 16.20 billion.
A senior MoS official has told the FE that the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) every year proposes comparatively low goods handling and revenue targets so that they can achieve them very easily and officials can get incentive bonus.
He said the port's productivity moves per hour is very low compared to many other nearest ports. Presently the productivity moves per hour at the Chittagong port is around 13 against the global standard of 25.
The official said some local companies have been operating the port for years but they have no steps to raise productivity moves. The monopoly of local companies has kept global operators off the port, though many of them including the UAE-based DP World have expressed their interest to run the port. The DP World owns more than 65 marine terminals across six continents.
Years back the World Bank had suggested increased private sector involvement to raise the moves per hour at the port.     
When contacted, a senior official at an operating company of the Chittagong port told the FE Wednesday the number of terminals needed to be increased and age-old equipment replaced to raise the efficiency of the port.
There are some other internal issues that need to be resolved to help raise the efficiency level of the port, he said.
He said the turnaround time of a ship at the port is now 72 hours against 48 hours any of other developed ports.
When asked about the reason, he said there is no other port in the world except that at Chittagong where delivery of goods is taken after opening containers at port yards.
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