Expansion of port facilities
For our products to be competitive in the world market we have to have efficient port facilities. Unless we can handle goods efficiently and cheaply we might lose much of what our entrepreneurs will earn. Today we have one and a half sea ports, which is, needless to say, quite inadequate for the trading needs of the country.
There is a limit to which the Chittagong port facilities can be stretched and improved. Our total dependence on Chittagong port may put us in serious trouble, should the port be incapacitated due to man-made or natural disaster like sinking of vessel in the navigational channel, blocking of the channel or some other mishap. The country or its economy cannot afford such losses and we must have alternative plans for dealing with such contingencies.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. In order to reduce our dependence on the lone port of Chittagong, I would like to put forward the following suggestions. Due to natural reasons, scope for expansion of Chittagong port is very limited. The current port at Mongla, because of wrong selection of site and also for natural reasons, cannot meet the needs and requirements of a seaport. Therefore it should be down graded to an inland port and the seaport should be established either at Akram point or on the bank of the river Sibsah. This river is self flushing and is more suited for becoming a sea port compared to the Mongla port. This port has to be well connected by road, rail and river so that its hinterland could be extended to Nepal, Bhutan, and north-east India besides the northern districts of the country. The entire hinterland is to have easy access to the port.
We should consider declaring the entire districts of Cox's Bazaar and Bandarban a ÂSpecial Economic Zone, which will be a duty free area. In this area we will have a deep-sea port that would be the main shipping hub for the region, especially for the handling of containers. It would be a starting point for container mainline vessel, and not a container feeder port like Chittagong. As mainline port the freight cost will reduce substantially and transit time will also reduce considerably and this will make our products more competitive in the international market. We must also make an air hub in Cox's Bazaar where the largest aircrafts should be able to land and take off. This airport should become a major airport of this region both to cater to air cargo and passengers.
The development of the economic zone with a major sea port and airport could make the zone an attractive destination for domestic and overseas investors in this zone. I am confident that within next decade this economic zone, which will have separate system of administration than the rest of the country, will attain the same level of development as Singapore. If this materializes, we will not have to look for overseas market for our manpower, as we will be able to find employment for the unemployed people of the country within the economic zone. The air and seaports will be able to meet the trading needs of Myanmar, north-east India, and south-west China besides our own trade. Massive investment will be required but the opportunities are also enormous.
Apart from the suggestions given above, we should have few inland container feeder ports located at Pangoan, Chandpur, Mongla, and Baghabari from where container feeder vessels should be able to convey containers directly to the container mainline ports.
We have to dredge our rivers so that the cheap river transport network can be extended to cater to the remote areas of the country to take advantage of the cheap and efficient river transportation system. This will help an even growth of all areas of the country simultaneously.
We could also consider utilizing half sized ISO containers of 10' x 8' x 9' size that could be used for multi modal transportation of goods within the country and also within the AARC member countries.
I hope and believe that the government would consider the proposal seriously and have an expert team study the proposal and arrange its early implementation.