BGMEA for improving cargo handling services at Dhaka airport

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association has requested Biman Bangladesh Airlines to improve air cargo handling services at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to ensure smooth RMG exports.

BGMEA President Faruque Hassan made the request during his meeting with Managing Director and CEO of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Dr Abu Saleh Mostafa Kamal, at the latter’s office in Dhaka on Friday, said a press release.

The BGMEA chief particularly stressed the need for increasing the number of explosive detection scanner at the airport and regularly carrying out maintenance of the existing two EDS.

Exported cargoes have to go through security scanning at the third country’s airports due to lack of sufficient number of scanning machines, causing delay in air shipment, Faruque told the Biman boss.

He also requested for improving the cargo handling situation at the cargo village which has a shortage of ground handling staff and required equipment and machinery.

Noting that the space at the cargo village is not sufficient to store export-import goods properly, he requested the authorities to ensure that goods are not left out in the open at the cargo village.

Apart from that, he called for taking steps to make loading-unloading of RMG cargoes faster and properly stack them in the cargo shed in a proper order so that export-import goods can be found out easily and released quickly.

He further urged not to charge demurrage fees for the delay in releasing goods due to stacking of goods haphazardly at the cargo village.

BGMEA Vice President Md Shahidullah Azim, Director Tanvir Ahmed and former Director Md Ashikur Rahman (Tuhin) also attended the meeting.

Later, they visited the cargo village at the airport to see the current situation of cargo handling services at the airport.