Sensible decision by the mayor

The air needs to be cleared of the confusion over what the mayor sees as 'privatisation' of the New Mooring container terminal and the shipping ministry regards as leasing it out to select private parties.

What will be for the good of the port is very much a matter of economics and not politics, of hard-boiled calculations and not political positioning. Issues of port efficiency cannot simply be decided on slogans and populism. The mayor-shipping ministry understanding is a good starting point for taking the port forward.

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It is our firm conviction that whatever it takes to improve the standards of efficiency and performance of Chittagong port must be done. The volume of export-import cargo loads for Chittagong port has increased 24 times since the independence of the country, but evidently without any commensurate capacity building, a vital area held ransom to politicking, labour unrest and resistance to change and a whole array of conflict of interests spearheaded by CBAs and other stakeholders. All of these well-oiled by the grease of corruption and malpractice. The net result is, what Chittagong port takes a week to clear, Singapore port would in a matter of hours. This raises the cost of business. Port operation by default is expensive and inefficient at the same time. Actually, the lack of infrastructure and efficient man-power in the port is corroding some of our competitive edge in terms of export to the world market.

The supreme irony is whereas Chittagong port, being geo-strategically proximate to India, China, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan, should have been a thriving entrepot is now a limping entity. If only we had modern container loading and unloading facilities, trade and commerce would have expanded and investment, both domestic and foreign, would be picking up manifold.