The country’s third and newly-built Paira Seaport might not be fully operational till next March as the National Board of Revenue (NBR) is yet to start work for building bonded warehouse in the area, officials said.
According to the seaport authorities said they sought NBR assistance several times to build bonded warehouse and employ manpower to collect duties on imported goods, but to no avail.
In a letter, the port Chairman, Captain Md Saidur Rahman, said to NBR Chairman Md Ghulam Hossain that Paira Seaport cannot be functional without necessary infrastructure and manpower.
Foreign ships may not enter the country’s third seaport before March unless the NBR employs sufficient manpower and construct bonded areas for Paira Seaport, said another letter sent to finance Secretary Mahbub Ahmed last week.
Earlier, the port authority set a target to start partial operation of the port in December this year but it has been shifted to March 2015 as some required infrastructure development was yet to be completed.
Last May, Chittagong Port Authority signed a memorandum of understanding with Paira Seaport authority for building the seaport and provided interest-free loan worth Tk496 million in November 2013 for land acquisition and development and building pontoon and other facilities.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina opened the Paira Seaport at Ramnabad in Kalapara upazila of Patuakhali on November 19, 2013.
The distance of Ramnabad channel is 31km from sea, 316km from Chittagong, 130km from Mongla Port and 340km from the capital.
The Chittagong Seaport has a capacity to handle an aggregate volume of 1.6 million twenty feet equivalent units (TEUs) of containers annually while the Mongla Port 6.5 million tonnes of goods and 50,000 TEUs of containers every year.
The Paira Seaport, first ever built in the country after independence, would open up a new dimension to import-export and goods-transportation activities, according to entrepreneurs.