Editorial
Ctg port efficiency dwindling
Sad, when expectations about its performance are growing
Last Saturday, the state of service delivery at the Chittagong port came under a sharp focus at a high level meeting with trade leaders held at the office of the principal secretary to the Prime Minister. Set as it was against the backdrop of sharply declining efficiency at the premier port, considerable urgency got reflected through the meeting to set things right on this front. A number of decisions were adopted unanimously, but only after an intense three-hour deliberation among the stakeholders present.
Although the decisions are problem-specific, their implementation would have to be closely monitored, preferably by a taskforce created for the purpose. The first priority is to bring down the turnaround time for the anchored ships to 48 hours from what has now increased to five to six days causing immense loss to the traders. The turnaround standard was set during the caretaker government rule when a raft of measures ensured loading and unloading operations in two and a half days. For the first five months of the elected government the system operated on the earlier footing, but later on over a period of a year or so the turnaround performance has sharply declined. It is time to roll it back lest it reaches the record 10-11 days of yesteryears.
Secondly, pilferage in the jetties has reached scandalous proportions. This is illustrated by the president, BGMEA citing the instance of up to four hundred per cent penalty having been imposed by foreign buyers/sellers owing to merchandise vanishing from containers in jetties. Basically, it is bringing bad name to Chittagong port. The decision to set up more close circuit cameras (CCTV) to intensely monitor the activities begs a question as to how effective the existing CCTVs have proven. As a matter of fact, unless the human elements behind a technology are reformed and working with a sense of professional responsibility becomes a habit, not much is expected to change there.
The essential thing to realise about why this Chittagong port often relapses into a relative limbo has been rabid and politicised trade unionism that is opposed to any notion of modernised mechanisation of the port operations. We therefore endorse the view of vice-president of Chittagong Chamber SM Abu Tayab emphasising the need for bringing the port workers under a well-formulated code of conduct.
In a context where we are thinking of a deep-seaport to handle increased flow of goods consequent upon establishment of regional connectivities, it is of utmost importance that efforts are redoubled to increase capacity building of the Chittagong port as a whole. With the Chittagong port developing to its potential, the prospects for port workers can only brighten -- something they must inculcate in them to be working with renewed zeal.
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