USE OF PORTS BY INDIA: Dhaka works on deal despite risk of congestion [ Tritiyo Matra News ]

USE OF PORTS BY INDIA: Dhaka works on deal despite risk of congestion

Local April 04, 2017

Dhaka has almost finalised the proposed agreement on the use of Chittagong and Mongla ports by New Delhi for carrying goods from one place to other place of India that poses risk of congestion in the sea ports, officials said.
The ministry of shipping in Dhaka is working round the clock on the draft of the agreement before the prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India scheduled for April 7-10.
The ministry is also under pressure to ready the proposed standard operating procedures of the proposed agreement, the officials said.
Shipping secretary Ashok Madhav Ray, however, said that he was not sure if the proposed deal and the standard operating procedures could be finalised before the visit.
He told New Age on Monday that they were trying to finalise the deal and the standard operating procedures overcoming differences of opinion.
He, however, declined to disclose the differences.
The officials said that the differences of opinion surfaced in an inter-ministerial meeting on March 30 on response by Delhi to the proposed draft.
Ashok chaired the meeting at the secretariat which was attended among others by representatives from Chittagong and Mongla ports, the National Board of Revenue and the ministry of commerce.
The officials said that both the Chittagong and Mongla port authorities again raised objection to the demand by India for ‘priority’ space at both the ports for the Indian goods.
They said that the representative of Chittagong port also objected to another demand by India for allowing Indian goods carrying ships to stay at the port for maximum 30 days under the proposed standard operation procedures.
The Chittagong port, however, agreed to give maximum 10 days to the ships, the officials said.
Centre for Dialogue distinguished fellow Mustafizur Rahman said that the government should be careful to provide India with the facility of using the Chittagong port considering the congestion.
The port struggles to handle containers of the country’s exports and imports due to lack of infrastructure and logistics, he said.
Without improving infrastructure and logistics the proposed use of the port by India would bring no benefit to the country, he noted.
Chittagong port which accounts for 80 per cent of the country’s sea-borne traffic worth about $60 billion a year would not get additional fees for allowing transit to India.
India proposed that Bangladesh should not impose ‘duties’ or ‘other taxes’ excepting administrative fees on transit through Chittagong and Mongla ports.
Earlier, Dhaka allowed the transit of Indian goods to its northern states through river ports including Ashuganj paying Tk 192 for per tonne goods. Out of Tk 192, the revenue board would get Tk 130 as customs duty while the roads and highway department would get Tk 52 and the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority would receive Tk 10.
The transit fee was much lower compared to Tk 1,058 recommended by a core committee of the Bangladesh Tariff Commission in 2011.
Member secretary of the national committee to protect oil, gas, mineral resources, power and ports Anu Muhammad opposed the government move to provide India with the ports using facility.
He said that the country’s sovereignty would be at stake.
He alleged that the present government was fulfilling all demands by India as the latter became the ‘only country to recognise the national general election in 2014’ boycotted by all opposition parties.