Govt mulls Tk 52 billion more to maintain Payra navigability
FE REPORT | Saturday, 20 July 2024
The Ministry of Finance will consider a Tk 52 billion project proposal next week for maintenance dredging of Payra seaport and buying a hopper dredger, officials said.
The new project is meant for maintaining the navigability of the channel leading to the port amid heavy siltation, they added.
Payra Port Authority (PPA) Chairman Rear Admiral Abdullah Al Mamun Chowdhury told The Financial Express on Thursday that a meeting will be held on Monday at the Finance Division to finalise the scheme and the funding method.
Earlier, the PPA carried out capital-and-maintenance dredging of Payra seaport's Rabnabad channel by spending of Tk 65 billion, mostly from Bangladesh's fast-depleting forex reserves.
The Rabnabad channel is a 22-kilometre-long main navigation channel of the country's third seaport. It was dredged by spending 524 million Euros from the forex reserves and some Tk 11 billion in local currency.
Under the new scheme, the PPA wants to carry out maintenance dredging for two more years, officials said.
A hopper dredger will also be bought under the new scheme so that dredging can be continued even after the project tenure is over.
The new dredging scheme for the port, located in Kalapara sub-district in Patuakhali district, will be implemented by appointing a contractor and a consultant under the direct-purchase method, as decided at a recent meeting of the budget management committee of the ministry of shipping.
The Tk 65.35 billion worth of capital-and-maintenance dredging has been conducted by Belgian company Jan De Nul.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on November 19, 2013 formally inaugurated the Payra seaport for limited operation before construction of a full-fledged port. The government once decided to build a deep-sea port in Payra but later took a u-turn as the water draft in the area linking the Bay of Bengal appeared to be challenging.
The port authority spent Tk 65 billion to dredge the main channel of the port to bring panamax-sized ships, needing water draft of up to 10.5 metres.