PM seeks detailed work plan as Payra port project goes slow

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday directed Payra Port Authority (PPA) to prepare a detailed work plan amidst cost spirals and delays in project implementation involving the government's highly-ambitious development agenda.

"The prime minister instructed the port authority to place the total work plan in the next meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec)," Planning Minister MA Mannan told journalists after an Ecnec meeting.

Ministry sources said instructions have also been given to provide a picture of the port's existing situation, total progress so far and list of major problems facing authorities implementing projects involving the port.

The Ecnec also approved a revised proposal for a project that sought more time and to increase the cost for building the port's first terminal and related infrastructure.

The project was undertaken in the beginning of January 2019 and due to be completed by December 2021 at a cost of Tk 3,982.10.

Now, the revised cost is Tk 4,516.75 crore and completion deadline June 2023.

Only 7 per cent of the project has been completed so far in the past two years.

A portion of the cost increase for the port's first terminal and related infrastructure is for adjusting the height of the jetty.

Asked if any feasibility study was conducted for the project, Mamun-Al-Rashid, a member of the planning commission, affirmed one being done at the beginning.

"However, our own ability to conduct a feasibility study for such a large scale project has not been developed yet," he said.

"However, when a feasibility study was later carried out by two firms from Belgium and Denmark, they said the jetty would not be able to withstand the waves that form if a 40,000 tonne-capacity ship comes to the port," he added.

"That is why it has been asked to use steel piles instead of RCC piles," said Rashid.

After conducting a hydrological study on a river and surrounding area inside the port, where one Andharmanik bridge would be constructed, the bridge's length was increased from 1.05 kilometres to 1.17 kilometres by the consultant.

For that, the project seeks another Tk 411 crore from the government.

"If you ask me how the project would be completed by two years as only 7 per cent of it has so far progressed, I would say that now the total design and feasibility study have been finalized," he said.

"And that's why it will be possible to do it within the deadline," Rashid added.

The parliament passed the Payra seaport authority act on November 3, 2013, and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the port's construction work on November 1 that year.

Although she inaugurated limited-scale operations of the country's third seaport in 2016, the full-fledged activities were aimed to be run by 2023.

Mother vessels still cannot dock at the port because construction of necessary infrastructure is yet to be complete.

The multifarious task involving the much-hyped port in Patuakhali has been facing delays despite being a fast-track project of the government.

The lack of a proper feasibility study, inappropriate cost estimations and reluctance of project officials mainly resulted in the delayed infrastructure development and rising construction costs, according to ministry officials.

The same was stated in a report on the project by the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED).

The cost was increased by 23 per cent from the last estimate of Tk 3,350 crore to meet additional expenses on land acquisition, among others, as the Ecnec approved a third revised proposal in November last year.

The project, which is being implemented by an agency under the shipping ministry, was undertaken in 2015 at an estimated cost of Tk 1,128 crore. The expenditure went up to Tk 3,350 crore in the first revision.

However, around 80 per cent of the project has been completed as of now.

A government effort to prepare the master plan and design for a Payra deep-sea port by engaging the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and a consultant of the Netherlands has not been finalised.

As of now, only 50 per cent of the master plan has been completed.

Some other projects of the port, such construction of a multipurpose terminal, a coal terminal and city in the port area and attracting tourists by improving the Kuakata coastal region, have not progressed much.