The Inland Container Terminal (ICT) at Pangaon in Narayanganj is likely to go into operation by the end of next year, sources said.
With a view to introducing container movement through river route, Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) took the project in July 2000 at an estimated cost of Tk 154 crore.
Sources at CPA and BIWTA said the project is being delayed due to bureaucratic tangle and it took six years before only the infrastructural works like land-fill and bank protection under first and second phase could be done by December 21, 2006.
Sources said main construction of the project started on March 10 in 2008.
The ICT, funded by CPA, is being constructed on some 64 acres of land of BIWTA along the river Buriganga at Pangaon.
Under the project, jetties and sheds are being constructed on 35 acres of land and roads on 29 acres under the supervision of BIWTA engineers while an executive engineer will represent CPA as deputy project director (DPD).
The ICT would have a storage capacity of 3500 TEUs (Twenty Equivalent Units) of containers and handle 1.16 lakh TEUS containers annually.
Process is also under way to procure low-draft vessels to carry containers between Chittagong port and the ICT through the river route to bring down transportation cost and time of containers remarkably.
“We expect to complete the construction by the scheduled time of June next year if everything goes smoothly. Otherwise, it may take a few more months,” said Project Director Hasan Mahmud, also additional chief engineer of BIWTA.
Hasan said, “Though started with an estimated budget of Tk 154 crore implementation cost of the project may rise to Tk 177 crore since we are now going to install generators due to non-availability of gas.”
While talking to The Daily Star CPA Chairman Commodore RU Ahmed said, “After constructing the ICT on BOT (Build, Operate and Transfer) basis CPA would appoint berth operator to operate it while BIWTC (Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation) would have the responsibility to engage ten vessels each with a capacity ranging from 80 to 100 TEUs containers.”
“CPA would operate the ICT until the investment is recovered after that on profit-sharing basis,” he told The Daily Star.
Meanwhile, BIWTC has completed a tender process to give work order for construction of four low-draught vessels in ten months, said the sources.
The vessels have to be suitable for movement in 4-metre draught to be maintained in the river in front of the ICT.
The rest six vessels might be engaged and operated through private sector later on, they said.
CPA sources said over 10 lakh TEUS containers are handled at Chittagong port annually. Of them, only ten percent can be taken to the lone Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Kamalapur in the capital by train. A train can transport at best 32 TEUs containers in each trip when single-line rail track on Dhaka-Chittagong also hinders its movement.
In this regard, port users said as carrying cost of a container in both rail (Tk 10,000) and road (Tk 12,000) almost the same, importers mostly get their cargo unloaded (from containers) and taken to Dhaka by trucks or covered vans to save time.
But, transportation by trucks or vans causes tremendous pressure and damages to roads alongside creating serious congestion on Dhaka-Chittagong highway, they said.
“If river route is opened transportation of cargo in container would increase by several times and ease congestion on Dhaka-Chittagong highway to a great extent,” said Shiba Prashad Dey, managing director of freight forwarding farm Visual Trade System.
“It would also bring down incidents of road accidents and risk of theft alongside saving time and money of the importers,” he added.