Nine years of negligence at Chattogram port!

According to a report published in this daily, the outer anchorage of Chattogram port has not been properly monitored by the Customs House Chattogram (CHC) for the last nine years. It is incredible that this has been the status quo for so long in the largest entrance to the country's busiest port. According to the CHC, around 70 percent of the total imported goods enter Bangladesh through this outer anchorage, yet due to a lack of patrol boats and acute manpower shortages, only two out of the average of 40 vessels that dock there every day are being inspected.    

This means that on average, 95 percent of the vessels docking at the outer anchorage are not being checked by CHC officials, turning it into a hotspot for smugglers. What is even more shocking is the level of mismanagement that has led to this prolonged state of affairs. According to a report in The Daily Star, two patrol boats fell into disrepair nine years ago, leaving the outer anchorage unprotected. Five years ago, the Ministry of Finance allocated Tk 5 crore for their repair, which was undertaken by the company Chittagong Dry Dock Ltd. However, this money was wholly squandered, since neither of the patrol boats were returned to usable conditions, and at least 40 problems were found after they finished the job, including engine malfunction and leakages. None of these irregularities were ever investigated.

The CHC has once again asked the government for Tk 3.11 crore to repair at least one of the patrol boats, but what is the guarantee that the same thing will not happen again? According to a member of the National Board of Revenue, at least 10 speed boats and 5 patrol boats are required for customs to conduct proper inspections at the outer anchorage, so what good will a repaired patrol boat from the 80s be when the manpower and other equipment required are missing?

It is an open secret that illicit drug trafficking and other forms of black-market activity are taking place in the port city of Chattogram. We urge the authorities to take this issue seriously and provide the CHC with the manpower and equipment needed to properly manage the outer anchorage of the port. We also ask the government to immediately set up a probe committee that is independent of the customs authorities in order to investigate the misuse of funds and past irregularities, and ensure that these mistakes are not repeated again.