Matarbari to play sponsor to deep seaport
The government is defined to construct a deep seaport at Matarbari in Cox's Bazar to greatly help the country cope with rising volumes of exports and imports and ease the strain on the Chattogram port.
The project worth Tk 17,777 crore yesterday got the approval from the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec). Primary Minister Sheikh Hasina presided over the meeting at the NEC conference bedroom in the city's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.
Once completed in December 2026, Matarbari would be the fourth port in Bangladesh.
Of the estimated cost, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) will devote Tk 12,893 crore and the others, Tk 2,213 crore, will be borne by the Chittagong Interface Authority (CPA), Setting up Minister MA Mannan told reporters after the meeting.
Export and import actions have increased considerably in recent years, therefore the country requires a deep seaport to aid the developing international trade and the market, the minister said.
Beneath the project, a 26.7-kilometre approach road will be constructed. The methodology highway will be an increased expressway.
The thought of the deep seaport in Matarbari was conceived after the government started a coal-based power plant project in the region, as a wider channel and a port will be required to generate the fuel for the plant.
State-possessed Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh (CPGCBL) is certainly implementing the Tk 35,984-crore power plant project.
As part of the 1,200 megawatt power plant task on the same site, almost 90 % of the work for creating an artificial channel with 14.5-kilometre extended, 250-metre width and 18 metres depth was already completed.
During a visit to Matarbari, it had been seen that the world's third-major cutter suction dredger named Cassiopeia V is certainly busy excavating the channel.
On the northern area of the channel, a 1,750-metre breakwater has been constructed in order to protect the channel from the force of the ocean waves and mitigate sedimentation.
The CPA now plans to enhance the width of the channel by 100 metres, according to certain requirements of the proposed seaport.
The channel already has a depth of 16 metres and it will be extended by up to 18 metres.
The Karnaphuli channel of the Chattogram slot has only 9.5 metres depth, CPA Chairman Rear Admiral Zulfiquer Aziz told The Daily Star recently.
The planned draft of the channel would allow bigger-sized vessels with capacity to carry up to 8,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) containers to come in, which is four times the capability of the ships now accommodated at the Chattogram port channel.
The first phase of the port with two terminals -- a 300-metre multipurpose terminal for bulk cargo carriers and a 460-metre container terminal -- would be completed by 2026.
Once the first stage is completed, the interface can cope with 8 lakh TEUs container annually.
The shipping ministry approved the acquisition of just one 1,084 acres of land for the deep seaport to be built in two phases, sources said. Another 288.24 acres of land will be acquired later.
Three more container terminals will be create in the adjoining areas in the next phase, the CPA chief said.
Japanese strong Penta Ocean Construction Company, as the sub-contractor, is going to be implementing the breakwater, channel and land development portions of the task.
The Chittagong port handled 2.89 million TEUs containers in 2019 and its own capacity will be at best 5 million TEUs even following the implementation of several ongoing expansion jobs, explained Chattogram Port Users Forum Chairman Mahbubul Alam.
"The Matarbari port would definitely play a supplementary part in catering to the excess level of exports and imports in long term," he added.
Also at yesterday's Ecnec meeting, the green light was given for construction of a bridge above the Payra river in Patuakhali at a cost of Tk 1,042 crore. The task is because of be accomplished by December 2025.
The project was undertaken after Shirshendu Biswas, a fourth-grade student in the district, wrote to Primary Minister Sheikh Hasina requesting her to create a bridge over the river in Mirzaganj upazila in 2016.
The meeting also approved the Dhaka Sanitation Improvement Job involving Tk 3,855 crore. Of the fund, the World Lender and the Asian Infrastructure Expenditure Bank will jointly present Tk 2,856 crore.
The project has been undertaken in a bid to build up the sanitation system in selected areas of the city and increase the institutional and operational capacity of the Dhaka Wasa.
Two revised projects as well received approval at the meeting.
One of them is aimed at improving nutrition through creation of fruits across the year. The task was undertaken in 2015 at a price of Tk 195 crore. The project's expense was revised up to Tk 460 crore yesterday, up from Tk 299 crore in the initial revision.
The project cost of the 20-storey building of the National Security Intelligence also witnessed a second revision to Tk 352 crore from Tk 249 crore. The initial cost was estimated at Tk 88 crore.
