Shipping ministry gets a new lease of life
Thursday, 17 June 2010
Munima Sultana
The shipping ministry, the allocation of which once dropped to only two per cent of the budget, has started getting back its importance for projects like navigation and port expansion.
The proposed budget for 2010-11 fiscal increased the ministry's allocation to Tk 4.31 billion, up by Tk 2.34 billion of the concluding 2009-2010 fiscal.
Officials said though revenue budget of the ministry remains almost the same as the previous year, the finance ministry has kept a provision of block allocation of Tk 10 billion together with the water resource ministry.
"The budget allocation for the shipping ministry once was 18 to 20 per cent of the budget but it dropped to only 2pc in 2005," said shipping secretary Md Abdul Mannan Howlader.
The shipping ministry, under which 13 ogranisations are functioning, is carrying out 30 per cent of the domestic trade and handling 13 per cent of the passengers. Some 8000 launches, 11 land ports and 1400 launch stations and terminals are operating under its supervision.
But officials said due to fund constraints, many land ports were closed down and river routes turned inefficient for riverine transports forcing river trade to get decreased noticeably.
The shipping ministry, the allocation of which once dropped to only two per cent of the budget, has started getting back its importance for projects like navigation and port expansion.
The proposed budget for 2010-11 fiscal increased the ministry's allocation to Tk 4.31 billion, up by Tk 2.34 billion of the concluding 2009-2010 fiscal.
Officials said though revenue budget of the ministry remains almost the same as the previous year, the finance ministry has kept a provision of block allocation of Tk 10 billion together with the water resource ministry.
"The budget allocation for the shipping ministry once was 18 to 20 per cent of the budget but it dropped to only 2pc in 2005," said shipping secretary Md Abdul Mannan Howlader.
The shipping ministry, under which 13 ogranisations are functioning, is carrying out 30 per cent of the domestic trade and handling 13 per cent of the passengers. Some 8000 launches, 11 land ports and 1400 launch stations and terminals are operating under its supervision.
But officials said due to fund constraints, many land ports were closed down and river routes turned inefficient for riverine transports forcing river trade to get decreased noticeably.