Home ›› 08 Apr 2023 ›› Front
Several development projects to boost the Payra Seaport’s capacity are set to be extended by up to two years as implementation progress of the projects was slowed due to various reasons, including insufficient fund allocation.
According to Shipping Ministry sources, the duration of the construction project for the first terminal and ancillary facilities of the port is being extended by two years and the duration of the infrastructure development projects are being extended by one year.
However, the cost of the projects will stay the same, according to two letters sent to the Finance Ministry from the Shipping Ministry in these regards recently. The Business Post has obtained copies of the letter.
The seaport is one of the fast-track projects of the government. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated several development schemes at the port to make it into a world standard facility last October. The first terminal and ancillary facilities are being constructed at a cost of Tk 4,516.75 crore. The project was set to be implemented by June 2023. But authorities failed to make desired progress in implementation due to not getting the necessary allocation. Hence the project implementation deadline has been extended by two years to 2025.
Meanwhile, the Roads and Highways Department has failed to begin work on constructing a 1,180-metre-long bridge on the Andharmanik River even after more than two years had passed. Therefore, the Project Steering Committee (PSC), in a meeting last month, decided to extend the duration of the project for another two years till 2025 without increasing the cost.
Authorities have also decided to extend the deadline for the development of necessary infrastructures for carrying out the operations of Payra Seaport by one year to 2024.
This is the second time this project is being extended. Initially, the infrastructure project was set to be implemented by June 30, 2022 at a cost of Tk 4,374.47 crore. Later in 2020, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved a one-year extension of the project.
Earlier this year, on January 26, a review meeting was held regarding the implementation progress of the development projects being implemented under the Annual Development Programme of the government under the Shipping Ministry. The meeting decided that the project period would need to be extended by one year to complete the land acquisition process.
“The implementation period of the projects is being extended due to necessity. Once the operation of the port starts, Bangladesh’s foreign trade opportunities through the port will expand greatly,” Payra Seaport Chairman Rear Admiral Sohail Ahmed told The Business Post.
Inaugurated in 2013, Payra port is the country’s third seaport located in Rabnabad channel of Patuakhali district. The cost for the development of the port is estimated to be Tk 11,072 crore.
The port authorities received a loan of Tk 5,417 crore for the development works for a period of 10 years from the Bangladesh Infrastructure Development Fund.
Development works include capital dredging of the Rabnabad channel to maintain the navigability of the port. The dredging will create a 75 km-long, 100-125 metre-wide and 10.5meter-deep channel, building a capacity to dock 40,000 tons of cargo or 3000 container-laden ships at the port.
The development project also includes the building of eight vessels, seven of which are being built in different shipyards in Bangladesh. These vessels will be used exclusively to handle foreign vessels at the port.
The first terminal will be 650-metres long, which will be able to accommodate three ships of 200-metres simultaneously. If these projects are implemented, the capacity of the port will increase several times and the pressure on Mongla and Chittagong ports will be reduced a lot.
