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TRANSPORT

The slow death of Mongla

Sohbl Parvez
In the last two years no buyer has been found for the house, but its owner, dock worker Shamol Sarker, is still hopeful that one-day someone will come to purchase his property and help him wrap up his 39 years in Mongla.
Like Shamol, many other workers who bet their fortunes on Mongla port have put their houses on the market and are trying to leave, pushed away by the slow death of the country's second marine port.
On average over 25 foreign ships a month were docking at Mongla in 2000, now tins figure has dropped to below 10 a month, with shipper frightened away by the port's poor image, navigability problems and the lack of road, rail and air transport links.
Mongla's performance is in stark contrast to what has been happening at the country’s biggest marine port, Chittagong, that is facing overwhelming loads due to a rise in efficiency.
“It's a very bad situation. I cannot manage even one third of the daily needs of my family while no body wants to lend," said Shamol Sarker who, along with other workers, usually receives no wage if there is no work.
Inactivity of the port not only threatens the family livelihoods of about 3,000 workers but also raises concern among the port users, especially owners of the industrial units who have established factories adjacent to the port. '
Its poor performance also acts as a disincentive for investment at the Mongla Export Processing Zone where only a fraction of the hoped for investment has materialised.
Yet experts said the natural seaport can play a pivotal role in facilitating overseas trading activities in the southwest part of the nation, as well as the landlocked countries such as Nepal and Bhutan.
A more vibrant port would also help tackle the emerging regional inequality within the country, and facilitate
increased international trade, they said.
The major problem with the port is the poor passage for large ships. Placed at the confluence of Passur and Mongla rivers, about 71 nautical miles (132 kilometers) upstream from the Bay of Bengal, the channel of the sea port suffers from the lack of draft and most of the vessels having over eight-metre depth cannot enter.
Moreover the jetty has a draft of only 4.5 metres during low tide, according to port officials.
"It is simply not economically viable to send our ships there. We cannot load them to full capacity due to the low draft," said an owner of a shipping company in Bangladesh who preferred to remain unnamed.
But the required dredging to keep the channel convenient for the entry of ships had not
taken place in the last couple of years. The last capital dredging took place in 2000-2004 said a port official.
With ships no longer making their way to the port, the industrial units that have set up nearby are struggling to get hold of raw materials. The situation has become so bad that some of these are dredging near the port at their own cost to allow the smooth entry of vessels to their jetties.
"We have to spend about Tk 40-50 lakh a year for dredging. These expenses add to our production cost. We are thinking seriously about using Chittagong port for importing our raw materials unless the performance of the port improves," a senior official of the Mongla Cement Factory told The Daily Star last month.
In addition to low draft, the wreckage of sunken ships also threatens the safe navigation and current flow of the chan-
nel. There are wrecks of about 15 sunken ships that have fallen victims to cyclones and bombing during the liberation war, according to MPA.
Apart from this, the port suffers from a poor image crisis due to labour unrest and repeated instances of the arrest of ships. In between 1996-2002, some 96 ships were arrested by a section of port users who, by virtue of court orders, managed to halt scheduled sailing.
"We the workers are always blamed for the ailing condition of the port. But the channel has not been dredged for a couple of years and the government has taken no initiative to activate the port," said Omar Faruk Sentoo, vice president of Mongla Bandor Sramik Sangha, a port workers association.
“It needs to be rejuvenated,” said Mustafizur Rahman, executive director of Centre for
Policy Dialogue, a local research organisation.
Bangladesh's international trade will have to increase many fold in the coming years, if it is to achieve the higher economic growth rates needed to attain the UN's Millennium Development Goals.
“In order- to have more intra-regional trade and also to have closer economic cooperation with China, ports will have to play a key role,” said Mustafizur.
“The Mongla port could be an important gateway to global markets," he said.
Mustafizur said the capacity of the Mongla port needs to be substantially strengthened through appropriate intervention such as dredging the port channel, modernisation of handling facilities, strengthening of customs clearance services and efficient human resources.
“The development of the
port is also essential to address the emerging problem of increasing regional inequality within the country,” he said.
Ashraf Mohammad Iqbal, chairman of the Mongla Port Authority (MPA), was hopeful about the rebirth of the port.
He said the MPA floated a tender for dredging of the channel while it has submitted a Tk 548.43 crore project for a long-term sustainable solution to the navigability problem at the port.
“We are seeking govern-_ ment approval to start the berth operating system for reducing the turn around time for handling cargos,” he said, “We are also in talks so that various government agencies import food and fertiliser through the port.”
“We are preparing the ground. But it takes time to take off,” said the MPA chairman.
sohel@thedailystar.net