Waterway container project in N'ganj may help ease in transportation
Wednesday, 3 June 2009
Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) have jointly taken up a project for building a container terminal on the bank of the river Buriganga at Pangaon in Narayanganj to introduce waterway container transportation for the first time in the country, reports UNB.
Once the project is implemented, it will largely help reduce the pressure on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway, the route that takes the majority of the loads in transporting containers. The route is now in a bad shape because of excessive movement of heavy container-laden lorries, officials said.
The CPA Chairman, Commodore RU Ahmed, told the news agency that the CPA is funding the project while the BIWTA shouldering the responsibility of project implementation.
"Initial work on the container terminal is going on and an operator will be appointed to run the terminal soon," the seaport Chairman said.
Replying to a question, Ahmed said they are preparing tender document which will soon be floated to invite operators. "I hope we'll be able to sign agreement with the suitable operator within 3-4 months."
He, however, said it would not be possible to finish the project within 2010 and it might be ready at the beginning of 2011.
"A meeting in this regard will be held tomorrow (Wednesday) in the ministry concerned, and after the meeting, we'll be able to workout an exact timeframe for the completion of the project," he said.
Secretary of the Shipping Ministry, Director (Traffic) of the CPA and BIWTA officials are expected to attend the meeting.
Sources in the CPA said approximately Tk 1.60 billion (160 crore) has been estimated initially to implement the project on 60 acres of land in Pangaon area.
Chittagong Port Authority had proposed to set up a container terminal nearly three years back on the land owned by BIWTA. Later, both decided to set up the container terminal jointly.
An official of the port said the project is being implemented under Build-Operate- Transfer (BOT) basis and it will be able to handle 116,000 TEUs (Twenty Equivalent Units) containers annually.
Sources said that now container transportation is done by road and railway. So if the new container terminal is implemented, a good portion of containers would be transported through riverway.
Once the project is implemented, it will largely help reduce the pressure on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway, the route that takes the majority of the loads in transporting containers. The route is now in a bad shape because of excessive movement of heavy container-laden lorries, officials said.
The CPA Chairman, Commodore RU Ahmed, told the news agency that the CPA is funding the project while the BIWTA shouldering the responsibility of project implementation.
"Initial work on the container terminal is going on and an operator will be appointed to run the terminal soon," the seaport Chairman said.
Replying to a question, Ahmed said they are preparing tender document which will soon be floated to invite operators. "I hope we'll be able to sign agreement with the suitable operator within 3-4 months."
He, however, said it would not be possible to finish the project within 2010 and it might be ready at the beginning of 2011.
"A meeting in this regard will be held tomorrow (Wednesday) in the ministry concerned, and after the meeting, we'll be able to workout an exact timeframe for the completion of the project," he said.
Secretary of the Shipping Ministry, Director (Traffic) of the CPA and BIWTA officials are expected to attend the meeting.
Sources in the CPA said approximately Tk 1.60 billion (160 crore) has been estimated initially to implement the project on 60 acres of land in Pangaon area.
Chittagong Port Authority had proposed to set up a container terminal nearly three years back on the land owned by BIWTA. Later, both decided to set up the container terminal jointly.
An official of the port said the project is being implemented under Build-Operate- Transfer (BOT) basis and it will be able to handle 116,000 TEUs (Twenty Equivalent Units) containers annually.
Sources said that now container transportation is done by road and railway. So if the new container terminal is implemented, a good portion of containers would be transported through riverway.