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Move to scrap ordinance

Local ship owners disappointed

Rafiq Hasan, from Chittagong
The government move to scrap Bangladesh Flag (Protection) Ordinance, 1982 has sparked strong resentment among the local ocean going ship owners.
According to sources, the proposal to scrap the ordinance, that gives priority to local flag carrying ships to foreign flag carriers in loading and unloading cargoes, will be placed before the cabinet on Monday.
The sources said the move has been made under the pressure of major chamber and trade bodies, which believe that such protection is not desirable in the context of a free market policy.
But the local ship owners say that the scrapping of the ordinance would totally destroy the local shipping industry.
The mayor of Chittagong, Mohiuddin Chowdhury, said, while talking to journalists, that he would resist any such move for the greater interest of the nation.
He observed that the local ocean going ships should get priority over foreign vessels while loading and unloading cargoes.
"The investment of Tk 400 crore in the shipping sector would be in danger and there would be hardly any investment in the sector in near future," said Sayeed Hossain Chowdhury, chairman of Bangladesh Ocean Going Ship Owners Association (BOGSOA) .
He said if the ordinance remains in force, the local shipping sector would be able to bring around one billion US dollars annually to the country by the year 2005.The earn ing would reach around two billion dollars by the year 2008, he claimed.
"The entire shipping business in the country will go under the control of the foreign companies and they will dictate us," said Shah Alam, vice-chairman of BOGSOA.
The foreign companies would also impose various extra charges like congestion surcharge, bunker surcharge on Bangladesh ports on petty grounds as they did in the past, Shah Alam said.
The two implementing authorities of the government, however, gave contradictory views regarding the ordinance.
The officials at the Principal Office of the Mercantile Marine Department (POMMD) observed that trade would not be affected if the ordinance is implemented properly.
On the other hand, the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) officials said that there should not be any protection for anybody in a market economy.
"The ordinance giving priority to local flag carriers is not workable because it would create huge stockpiles of cargo at the port," said a CPA high official.
He said the protection to the local vessels would create stalemate at the port because the local ship owners are not capable of carrying all the containers.
Meanwhile, the latest order by the
department of shipping for distributing the container cargoes between local and foreign flag vessels is not being implemented due to lack of guidelines.
The authorities are still confused as to how they can split the cargoes by 60 per cent for foreign vessels and 40 per cent for the local ones.
The POMMD held a meeting with all stakeholders in the business on Wednesday for evolving a mechanism for sharing cargoes.
But according to sources, the MLOs were not ready to give 40 per cent of cargoes to local ships.