Importers still suffer for inadequate lightering service: Munal Mahbub

Due to shortage of lightering vessels at the Chattogram port still importers to pay extra charges and demurrages, forcing consumers to ultimately bear the costs, said Munal Mahbub, proprietor of Munal Trading and Anowara Trading. 
Her trading companies are leading importer and re-seller of food grains, mechanical and hardware products and importers of reconditioned vehicles, along with heavy industrial equipment in Bangladesh.  
Munal told New Age that Chattogram port needs more attention from the concerned agencies to enhance its capacity.
The process of upgrading of Chattogram port is very slow and traditional. It lacks efficient manpower and modern technology, ones that made other seaports super efficient, she said and added, ‘I will give an example, three months back we have imported wheat but we waited for two months for unloading.’ 
From port to warehouse there must be a direct connectivity which would promote the country’s businesses, she points out. 
Currently, Chattogram port has a total of four scanners which can scan few consignments. So, more container scanning machines need to be installed permanently at 12 gates of Chattogram port, said Munal.
Chattogram port needs to take initiative to develop a concrete communication procedure so that businessmen can get a comprehensive service from arrival of goods-laden vessel to the port to freighting of goods to the warehouses.
Though the number of women importers or women port users is increasing, their presence can at best be defined as insubstantial, Munal feels. 
She said, ‘The main reason why women are reluctant to do big volume business like import and export, is that there are still many hindrances working against their involvement. Very few women have the courage to overcome all odds.’ 
Chattogram port needs to increase the number of lightering vessels — a type of flat-bottomed barge used to transfer goods and passengers to and from moored ships. 
Steps must be taken to increase efficient people at field level. The authority needs to take a comprehensive plan to make loading and unloading of goods faster than the in existing system.
According to the sources, the mother vessels cannot directly enter the port jetties to unload large volumes of cargo due to low draft at the outer anchorage area, which is some 16 kilometres away from the jetties. Lightering or lighterage vessels are the only means to unload goods that arrive in bulk cargo. 
There are 39 river jetties across the country including Chottagram, Dhaka, and Narayanganj for unloading goods from lightering vessels. 
According to the Water Transport Cell, a forum of the lightering vassals owners who distributed them to importers for shifting goods from large vessels, 2,100 lightering vassals have received licenses from the government, but there are only 1,450 vessals in operation at the Chattogram port. Businesspersons claim there is a need for 500 more at the port to meet the ongoing crisis, she said.
Munal Trading usually import wheat, spices, sugar from Canada, Ukraine and Bulgaria. The imported wheat that was priced at $200 in per kilogram during import, after a month, it might experience a decrease in price and slide to $90 when it reaches the warehouse. In such a case, we incur huge losses. 
So, every single minute matters for business people. Delays are still happening. We imported wheat three months ago, which reached to our warehouse after two months, said importer Munal Mahbub who is also chairman of Mati-ta and CEO of Surgiscope Hospital Chattogram.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net