Nothing seems to be helping in easing Ctg port congestion

The 100 per cent waiver on store rent for import containers to solve the acute container congestion at Chattogram port ended yesterday with virtually no improvement in the space crisis.

On April 5, the Chattogram Port Authority announced the waiver for import containers that arrived within the general holiday believing such a step would encourage the importers to take delivery.

Due to the space crisis since the last 25 days, the country's premier port's container handling operations like loading, unloading and berthing of vessels have been severely hampered.

The number of total import containers lying at the port reached at 49,974 TEUs yesterday, up from the capacity of 49,018 TEUs.

Some 11 container vessels were seen at the jetties yesterday, while 32 more vessels were waiting at the outer anchorage for getting berths.

Garment factory owners brought in about 40 per cent of the import containers now lying at the port, said Md Zafar Alam, CPA's member of administration and planning.

However, MA Salam, first vice-president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), in a letter on Sunday requested the CPA to extend the waiver by at least 10 days after the government lifts the countrywide shutdown.

Although the countrywide shutdown is scheduled to end on April 25, it is expected that it would be extended further given the exponential rise in cases and deaths.

The CPA though is against extending the timeframe for the waiver.

"The port is not a warehouse where businesses would store their imports for a long period," Alam said.

Salam in his letter argued that the factory owners are failing to take delivery of their imports mainly for transport and workers crisis and other difficulties as most of the garment factories have remained closed now.

BGMEA Director Anjan Shekhar Das blamed the slow delivery of import containers on the hurdles in managing import-related documents as different government and private offices like banks are providing services for shorter periods due to the shutdown.

Spaces in most factories are already occupied with finished cargo and previously brought in raw materials, which are restricting the businesses to take delivery of import goods from the port, he said.