Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan urged the port users to help continue the operation of Pangaon Inland Container Terminal, a newly-built infrastructure to carry goods between Dhaka and Chittagong.
He assured of his ministry’s support and all necessary facilities to the port users.
“We will provide every necessary facility to the port users for keeping the Pangaon terminal operational,” the minister said during an exchange of views with the terminal users in Keraniganj.
The meeting was aimed at finding ways to popularise the new terminal, reports UNB.
The shipping ministry organised the meeting with the terminal users at Pangaon Container Terminal Bhaban.
Chaired by Shipping Secretary Syed Monzurul Islam, the meeting was addressed, among others, by State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid, Chittagong Port Authority Chairman Rear Admiral Nizamuddin Ahmed, BIWTA chairman Dr M Samsuddoha Khondaker and vice chairman of Bangladesh Container Shipping Corporation M Shamimul Haque.
Leaders of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), BGMEA, BKMEA, Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association and Bangladesh Container Shipping Association attended the meeting.
Shajahan Khan said the government has already brought two ships to carry containers on the water route between Dhaka and Chittagong Port.
“We’ll collect three more ships by mid-year. One will come from abroad while another two from Khulna Ship Dockyard,” he said.
The Shipping Minister said facilities must be increased in the port area to keep the terminal operational, and an integrated plan should be taken in this regard.
“We must carry out dredging on regular basis on rivers to ensure smooth navigability of the rivers,” he added.
In November 2013, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Pangaon Inland Container Terminal on the bank of the Buriganga River at Pangaon in South Keraniganj.
The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and the Chittagong Port Authority jointly built the terminal spending Tk154 crore.
The project aims to ease the pressure of cargo movement on the Dhaka-Chittagong railway and highway corridors. The terminal will have a storage capacity of 3,500 TEUs (Twenty Equivalent Units) of containers and handle 116,000
TEUs containers annually. The capacity will gradually be raised to 160,000 TEUs.