Just for the absence of inexpensive rubber fenders

COUNTRY'S main seaport at Chittagong does very often hit newspaper headlines. In the majority of cases, the reasons for it receiving media attention are not at all palatable. Most reports do highlight problems of different sorts, generally man-made. And the port users, including exporters, importers and shipping lines, are made to bear the brunt of those. Labour troubles, inefficient management of the port, inadequate cargo handling equipment etc., are a few among the perennial problems that have been upsetting the port users. There were piecemeal efforts to improve the situation but those could only deliver temporary results. It is not that the troubles at the ports do only hurt the interests of the local users of the port facilities; others, including foreign shipping lines, are also, at times, affected. Many international shipping lines tend to avoid Chittogong port because of the delay in loading and unloading of cargoes. Such delays enable the foreign ships to demand additional amounts as demurrage charge from the shipping agents. Yet they abhor overstay at ports because of the disruption to their schedules. The port users did witness a remarkable improvement in the operations of the port between 2007 and 2008 during the period of the military-backed caretaker government. Not a single incident of labour unrest took place during that time. Much to the delight of the businesses, the operations of the port became relatively smooth with the turnaround time recording the lowest ever level. The improvement continued for some months after the take-over of power by the present elected government. But troubles returned soon. The work-environment at the port turned hot over the demand for reinstatement of port workers retrenched during the caretaker government. Some months back, the situation turned so serious that the government had to deploy the armed forces to restore discipline at the port. The members of the armed forces are still deployed at the port. But other problems such as shortage of modern cargo handling equipment, particularly for general cargoes, are plaguing the efficiency level of the port. The shipping agents have been counting extra costs because of the delay in the handling of general cargoes. The inadequate availability of gantry cranes and forklifts and inefficiency of the berth operators are blamed for that. And to add to the woes of the port, a new problem has surfaced recently. The feeder vessel operators, according to a report published in this daily early this week, have been asked by their principals to avoid berthing at the Chittagong port for reasons of physical safety of the ships. The threat is not from pirates or poor navigability of the port channel. The vessels cite the absence of fenders at the main port segments as a major worrying factor. The fenders protect the ships from sustaining any damage while berthing. Operators claimed that each ship needed between $ 10,000 and $50, 000 for the repair of the damage it sustained while berthing at jetties that are not equipped with fenders. The port officials admitted the problem and said they needed time to put the fenders in place. The issue, in fact, does highlight the callousness on the part of the port authority. All the fenders, which are not that expensive, at the jetties have not become unusable at a time. Besides, the replacement of old and defective fenders is always a continuous process. Why should then the port authority need time to replace the same? In fact, this is one of many incidents that justify the need for a thorough shake-up of the management of the country's main port. Such a shake-up has been long overdue. Unless and until the government does it, the users of the port facilities would continue to suffer.