Govt to rewrite shipping law after cabinet return

Rezaul Karim | Published: February 24, 2016 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

The government has formed a committee revise the draft of Bangladesh Shipping Corporation Act, 2016, officials said.
Principal secretary to the Prime Minister is the convener of the five-member committee.
Senior secretary of the ministry of commerce (MoC), secretaries of bank and financial institutions division (BFID) and legislative and parliamentary affairs and secretary (in charge) of the ministry of shipping (MoS) are also the members of the committee.
The government is set to add new provision to the draft law, allowing the government to intervene selling and purchasing of ships by the corporation, a senior official said.
The committee will include necessary amendments, if needed, while providing its inputs to the draft, he added.
A new provision for raising the authorised capital of the state corporation is being considered, the official said.
The shipping ministry constituted the committee to examine and review the draft of the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation Act, 2016 after the decision of division, officials said.
Section 5 (Ka) and (Kha) of the original draft law has the provision of being authorised and paid-up capital of the corporation at Tk 4.0 billion and Tk 3.50 billion respectively, said a shipping ministry official, who is dealing with the matter.
The government's involvement in selling or purchasing of ships has been included in the act. Â
The section 31 of the draft law has empowered the state-run corporation to sell or purchase ships according to its own policy.
"We sent the proposed draft law to the cabinet meeting. But the division returned the draft asking for updating some of the section's law," joint secretary of shipping ministry Mohammad Shafayet Hossain told the FE on Tuesday.
The draft act will be placed with the cabinet division again after addition or dropping some of the provisions by the committee, another high official of the ministry said.
The Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC), a state- owned public sector corporation, is the largest ship owner in Bangladesh, which was established in 1972 with the objectives of providing efficient, safe, reliable and economic shipping services to exporters, importers and business houses.
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