CHATTOGRAM Sep 02: The construction work on two new container terminals for the Chittagong port, the prime seaport of the country, has been progressing in full swing.
The terminal projects taken up by the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) are scheduled to be completed by 2025, sources said.
Once the projects are completed, the capacity of the port would increase multiple times from the current level.
Sources said the CPA took up a total of three projects -- Patenga Container Terminal, Bay Terminal and Laldia Multipurpose Terminal -- to enhance efficiency and productivity of the premier seaport in order to keep up with the growing pace of maritime trade.
Of them, the Laldia Multipurpose Terminal will be constructed under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode.
CPA Chairman Rear Admiral Zulfiqur Aziz said, "The CPA has now been working to construct one multipurpose terminal and two container terminals with a view to ramping up efficiency and productivity of the port."
The multipurpose terminal will be 1,500 metre long while one container terminals will be 1,225 metre long and the other 800 metre long, he added. "The construction of the three terminals will be completed by 2025."
Piling work for the construction of Patenga Container Terminal (PCT) is now going on, he said.
The CPA has been carrying out the PCT construction work with its own fund.
After completion of the construction of PCT, three container carrier ships measuring 190-metre long each with 10.5-metre draft would be able to berth at a time there, said the CPA chief.
"The new jetty of the PCT will be 600-metre long. Besides, 220-metre-long oil carriers would be able to berth at dolphin jetty of PCT," he added.
"There will be 16 acres land for the back-up jetty of PCT to house 4,500 TEUs (container units). Under the PCT project, 112,000 cft RCC pavement, 2,128 cft freight station and 1750-metre-long bonded customs wall will be constructed. We can start the partial operation in June 2020," the CPA chief said.
He also said, "A new jetty is a must to cope with the ever-increasing volume of cargo, container as well as vessel traffic. However, our port has been experiencing 16 to 17 per cent of growth in cargo and container handling in the last few years."
"The PCT and other terminals, including Bay Terminal, will play a vital role in handling growing number of cargoes and containers at the prime seaport of the country," he added.
For the Bay Terminal project, the Central Land Allocation Committee (CLAC) approved 803.17 acres of land on March 28 last. The CPA will pay Tk 12 billion to the Chattogram District Administration for the land, said the sources.
CPA member Md Jafar Alam said, "The CLAC approved 803.17 acres of land for the Bay Terminal project. This is a prestigious project of the CPA to enhance the capacity of the Chittagong port."
"Construction-related activities for the terminal will begin after getting the feasibility test report, detailed design report and internal connectivity test report," he said.
He also said, "CPA is planning to construct the Bay Jetty with the financing from India. The ADB is likely to provide the fund for the construction of the Bay Terminal."
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina laid the foundation of the 'Bay Terminal' on Patenga coastline on November 1 last year.
Besides, the CPA has taken steps to build Laldia Multipurpose Terminal under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode for the first time.
This terminal will be constructed at a cost of around Tk 30 billion on 52 acres of land at Laldia at the estuary of the river Karnaphuli.
The project will be funded by the five members of a consortium and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Laldia Terminal will have two berths for the handling of containers as well as two berths for the handling of dry bulk and break bulk general cargoes.
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