Chittagong: Chairman of Chittagong Port Authority Rear Admiral Mohammad Sohail said that all four terminals of Bay Terminal will be foreign investment.
He gave this information during an exchange of views with journalists on the occasion of the 137th Port Day on Wednesday (April 24).
The port chairman said that last year was successful. We have been able to hire foreign operators in the PCT. This will benefit the port as well as the state. Foreign income will increase. 100% recruitment has been given. All the equipment will come in one and a half years. I started managing the port from traditional system to landlord system.
‘Got the land of Bay Terminal. The masterplan is done. Channels of 12-14 m draft. All designs are finalised. There will be four terminals. A foreign port company will build and operate two terminals with an investment of $3 billion. A liquid bulk terminal will be built by a domestic company. 3.5 billion dollars will be invested. Foreigners will invest 1 billion dollars in the port’s multipurpose terminal. The bay terminal will be entirely foreign invested. Real port city will be seen after 4-5 years. Then Chittagong port will be the hub port’.
He said the Covid pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war, recent tensions in the Middle East slowed down the expected pace of the global economy but did not have much impact on container handling at Chittagong Port. After completing the unloading of the ship in maximum 2 days, I will release it to the next destination. Container handling in the first 9 months of FY 2023-24 has increased by 8.2 percent compared to the same period of the previous fiscal. If the growth continues, it will handle 3.2 million TEUs this time.
In the first 9 months of the financial year, general cargo handling was 9 crore 16 lakh 49 thousand tons. At this time, the ship handling was 3 thousand 1. 43 thousand square meter container yard has been constructed in the last year. As a result, there has been an opportunity to keep 7 thousand containers of 20 feet. A chemical shed of 4 thousand 275 square meters has been constructed. 2 thousand 850 meters revetment work has been completed on both banks to protect the navigability of Karnaphuli river.
He said, Matarbari seaport will start operations in its own terminal in three-four years. Efforts to procure support vessels continue. So that the terminal is not closed even for a day. Survey work for acquisition of 700 acres of land in second phase in Matarbari is going on.
Bangladesh Time: 1325 hours, April 24, 2024
AR/TC
