The Ministry of Shipping and the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) are in a hurry to make the Pangaon Inland Container Terminal (ICT) operational soon after they were instructed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, sources said.
The Prime Minister inaugurated the container terminal in Keraniganj area on November 7 last, but it could not be made functional even after a month. Sources said the PM has expressed dismay over the failure and recently asked the Ministry of Shipping (MoS) to start the terminal's function.
Against this backdrop, the CPA had planned to begin the carrying of containers from Chittgaong port to Pangaon ICT on Friday by putting into operation the two vessels it bought for the route. But the opening trip could not be started as adequate numbers of containers were not available after the end of the latest opposition-called blockade on Thursday evening.
Secretary of the CPA Syed Farhaduddin Ahmed told the FE Friday that some 3,750 containers had been delivered from the port to the capital and elsewhere in the country on Thursday night, and 3,000 more on Friday.
"Importers told us that since the blockade is over for now, we want to carry the containers by road immediately, before another spell of blockade starts. This time they preferred road instead of the river route," Mr Ahmed said.
He added presently no containers were available for their carrying by ships to Pangaon ICT.
"Once the fresh round of blockade starts on Saturday morning, and importers show interest, we will commence the shipment of containers to Pangaon," the CPA secretary said.
"If even 100 containers are available for carrying, we will start the inaugural shipment," Mr Ahmed added.
According to him, carrying goods in a twenty-feet-equivalent-unit (TEU) container from Chittagong to Dhaka by road costs nearly Tk 80,000, while by ship it will cost Tk 12,000 only.
He said importers would definitely show interest in using the river route, since it is quite cheap.
Sources said after getting directive from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), shipping minister Shajahan Khan held an emergency meeting on Wednesday at the ministry's conference room with the stakeholders on making the ICT operational as soon as possible.
Following demands from the stakeholders, the minister assured them of various facilities including not realising 30 per cent duty on the vessels' import, waiving of mandatory enlisting of freight forwarders and shipping agents, setting up of a police camp at the terminal, and a coast guard point in Gajaria area under Munsiganj district.
A nine-member focal committee, headed by MoS joint secretary Nasir Arif Mahmud, was also formed to identify and resolve the problems relating to making the port operational.
He also asked the officials concerned to take measures so that vehicles to and from the ICT can ply throughout the capital 24 hours a day.
Besides, the minister on Wednesday night made an emergency visit to Chittagong Port to have meetings with the people concerned. The meetings focused on making the Pangaon ICT operational. He also examined the preparations on making the inaugural shipment of containers from Chittagong Port to Pangaon.
The government in 2000 undertook a Tk 1.77 billion project to build the ICT aiming to give traders a relief from congestion on the roads between Dhaka and Chittagong and ensure easy transportation of containers.
The construction of the ICT started in July 2005. The work ended last year. The project is being implemented on an area of 88 acres of land with the capacity to handle 2,400 TEUs (twenty-feet-equivalent-units) of containers at a time.
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