The puzzling developments over Ctg port
Tuesday, 5 October 2010
One has enough reasons to be worried about the ongoing developments centering the Chittagong port, the main economic lifeline of the country. Various stakeholders are now engaged in an intense blame game while the port's efficiency, according to port users' allegations, has reached its lowest-ever level. Port users and business leaders at a roundtable held in Chittagong accused the shipping ministry and the relevant parliamentary standing committee of interfering in the affairs of the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA), leading to the decline of the efficiency level of the port. Some port users even went to the extent of demanding the resignation of the shipping minister and dissolution of the parliamentary standing committee. A few of them compared the present state of affairs of the port with that under the last military-backed caretaker government.
There is no denying that the Chittagong port could improve its tattered image to both outside and local users of its facilities during the last caretaker administration by bringing down the stay time of ships, handling cargoes efficiently and reducing the incidence of theft and pilferage of export and import cargoes at the secured zones of the port. The port wore a disciplined look between 2007 and 2008 much to the satisfaction of the businesses. Though there were not much complaint about the operations of the port in the initial months of the incumbent government, troubles started surfacing since the early part of the current calendar year. The average stay-time of ships, as admitted by the CPA chairman at the roundtable, has increased to about 5 days and the stay time of some container vessels has gone up to 8 to 10 days. In contrast to such unpalatable development, the stay-time back in April this year was 2.8 days. Besides, the productivity of the port, in terms of cargo handling, has gone down.
The higher stay-time does take an economic toll on ships since they have to count an additional cost of $20,000 for each day's stay. Actually, the source of the existing troubles originated from the taking over of the cargo handing, temporarily, at 12 general jetties by the CPA itself from the private operators on May 10 last. The CPA was supposed to transfer the responsibility again to private operators through open bidding within a short time. But bids were invited and cancelled, allegedly, due to interference by the shipping ministry and the parliamentary standing committee concerned.
However, both the ministry and the standing committee have denied the charges. But following repeated complaints from the businesses about mismanagement at the country's premier port led to the holding of a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) where the decision was taken to form an advisory committee having representation of all stakeholders to tackle the problems that have a far-reaching impact on the economy. But, for reasons best known to the shipping ministry, the advisory committee has not been formed yet. The shipping minister has, however, promised to constitute the committee within next 15 days.
The strained relationship between various stakeholders of the port does not bode well for the economy, particularly when the advanced economies are in the process of tightening their belts. Importers might feel discouraged to import goods from Bangladesh due to extra costs and delays triggered by inefficiency at the Chittagong port. So, the highest authority of the government should look into the issue immediately and ensure discipline and greater efficiency at the port.
There is no denying that the Chittagong port could improve its tattered image to both outside and local users of its facilities during the last caretaker administration by bringing down the stay time of ships, handling cargoes efficiently and reducing the incidence of theft and pilferage of export and import cargoes at the secured zones of the port. The port wore a disciplined look between 2007 and 2008 much to the satisfaction of the businesses. Though there were not much complaint about the operations of the port in the initial months of the incumbent government, troubles started surfacing since the early part of the current calendar year. The average stay-time of ships, as admitted by the CPA chairman at the roundtable, has increased to about 5 days and the stay time of some container vessels has gone up to 8 to 10 days. In contrast to such unpalatable development, the stay-time back in April this year was 2.8 days. Besides, the productivity of the port, in terms of cargo handling, has gone down.
The higher stay-time does take an economic toll on ships since they have to count an additional cost of $20,000 for each day's stay. Actually, the source of the existing troubles originated from the taking over of the cargo handing, temporarily, at 12 general jetties by the CPA itself from the private operators on May 10 last. The CPA was supposed to transfer the responsibility again to private operators through open bidding within a short time. But bids were invited and cancelled, allegedly, due to interference by the shipping ministry and the parliamentary standing committee concerned.
However, both the ministry and the standing committee have denied the charges. But following repeated complaints from the businesses about mismanagement at the country's premier port led to the holding of a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) where the decision was taken to form an advisory committee having representation of all stakeholders to tackle the problems that have a far-reaching impact on the economy. But, for reasons best known to the shipping ministry, the advisory committee has not been formed yet. The shipping minister has, however, promised to constitute the committee within next 15 days.
The strained relationship between various stakeholders of the port does not bode well for the economy, particularly when the advanced economies are in the process of tightening their belts. Importers might feel discouraged to import goods from Bangladesh due to extra costs and delays triggered by inefficiency at the Chittagong port. So, the highest authority of the government should look into the issue immediately and ensure discipline and greater efficiency at the port.