CPA shares draft Bay Terminal plan with stakeholders

The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) has shared its draft master plan for the Bay Terminal with different stakeholders, voicing optimism that the DPP (Development Project Proposal) will be ready by this year and construction will begin in 2023.

CPA Chairman Rear Admiral M Shahjahan made the disclosure at a meeting on Wednesday, organised at the port auditorium to seek stakeholders’ opinion, in a bid to finalise the master plan.

In addition to port officials, officials of Chittagong City Corporation, Chittagong Development Authority, Water Development Board, Police, Freight Forwarders, Water Transport Cell, C&F Agents, a South Korean consulting firm responsible for the master plan of Bay Terminal and local public representatives attended the meeting.

The CPA shared its draft master plan for Bay Terminal at the meeting through a multimedia presentation.

Voicing their opinions, stakeholders urged the CPA to keep in consideration major issues such as gridlock, waterlogging and the environment while formulating the master plan for Bay terminal.

Mentioning that the master plan’s formulation is almost complete, CPA Chairman M Shahjahan said, “I hope to be able to start work on the appointment of EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) contractors in January or February next year.

“Preparation of DPP is also in progress along with the master plan, which may take 2-3 months to complete.”

He added, “There will be promising progress regarding the commencement of work in January-February. The Bay Terminal was initially scheduled to be launched in 2024. Now it seems the project will be launched in 2025.”

Member (Administration and Planning) of CPA Zafar Alam, Chittagong City Corporation Chief Engineer Rafiqul Islam, Chittagong Development Authority Executive Engineer Rajiv Dash, Railway Eastern Additional Chief Engineer Arman Hossain, Supervising Engineer of Roads and Public Ways Md. Zahid Hossain, Vice President of Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association Khairul Alam Sujan, Convener of Water Transport Cell Nurul Haque, and others.

Under the CPA initiative, the largest and most expensive bay terminal for Chattogram port will be built on 2,500 acres along the coast of the North Halisahar. There are 800 to 1,200 meter wide channels in the sea, allowing ships with up to 12-metre draft and 280-metre length to pass.

Ships that can carry 5,000 containers – the type that the Chattogram port cannot accommodate right now – will also come to this port once the construction of Bay Terminal completes. At present.