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Talks on private container terminal in Ctg stalled

SHAHRIAR KARIM
Fresh negotiations between the government and the Stevedoring Services of America (SSA) on building a private container terminal in Chittagong reached a 'deadlock' over four issues yesterday.
The issues are terms and conditions of BOT ( build, operate and transfer), rate of royalty, ceiling on capacity of the terminal and ceiling and floor of tariff, meeting sources said.
"If the SSA does not agree to our terms and conditions, then we have to say goodbye to it," a government negotiator told The Daily Star yesterday.
A secretary level committee was given the task of renegotiating with the SSA. Earlier on April 30, the committee submitted a report to the
government on the relevant issues.
The government negotiators and SSA representatives sat at 8:00 am yesterday to hammer out a solution and the meeting continued till about 10.30 am. Representatives of the SSA found the government conditions 'not agreeable,' sources said.
However, the two sides agreed on some peripheral issues. These include studies on the project site to determine whether there would be any siltation in the estuary of the Karnaphuli if the container terminal is built. The government and the SSA would conduct separate studies.
Earlier, the government offered the SSA to build a terminal on BOT basis when the fresh negotiations started on Saturday. The SSA offered to hand over the terminal to Bangladesh authorities after 60
years of operation but the government side found it unacceptable.
The SSA also wants that there should not be any bar on handling containers at the terminal to be built by it, but the government wants to ensure that the Chittagong port does not face difficulties in getting job, the sources said.
The government side also said the SSA authorities cannot charge less than or more than 50 per cent of what the Chitagong Port Authority (CPA) is charging for container handling.
The two sides also differed on the rate of royalty the government is to get from the SSA. Earlier, the SSA proposed four per cent royalty on gross revenue and the government asked it to raise the rate.
The secretaries of the ministires of commerce, shipping, finance and law and secretary to the president represented the government side at the negotiation, while Deputy Managing Director of the SSA Ashfaq J Rahman and other officials represented it.
Earlier in 1998, the government had signed a deal with the SSA for building two private container terminals at Patenga in Chittagong and at Pangaon in Dhaka. But the issue whipped up a debate and sparked agitation by trade unions at Chittagong port.
The deal for the container terminal at Pangaon was almost finalised with land lease and operating accords concluded. However, contract for the container terminal at Patenga could not be finalised due to opposition from the trade unions backed by Awami League and BNP.