Better waterways by 2013
Says shipping minister
The government is seriously considering river dredging to revive the waterways in a bid to boost the transportation system, said Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan yesterday.
“The government is keen to make the communications system through waterways a better one by 2013. Also we want to make the Chittagong port efficient and competitive than other regional ports,” said Shahjahan.
“For this, we have taken several initiatives, including purchasing dredgers to revive the country's waterways to help reduce the transport cost and ease local business activities,” he said.
He said the government is trying to solve problems of Chittagong port that holds back the growth of the port.
The minister was speaking at a seminar titled Safe Port Issue in the Context of Ctg Port, organised by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), Bangladesh Council at the LGED auditorium in the city.
He, however, admitted the government's poor capacity in dredging rivers and said that reviving the 21,000 km waterways will help ease the transport cost and enhance economic activities.
“The capacity of public sector is still poor, and the government's procurement policy takes longer period of time that slows the river dredging policy. So, we are encouraging the private sector to come up for dredging rivers,” said the minister.
In his keynote paper, Mohiuddin Abdul Kadir, fellow of CILT, suggested the government improve bilateral relations with neighbours to give them the its services.
He stressed the need for ensuring appropriate traffic management system, and forming a task force to investigate complains by master vessels and ship owners against local agents.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments