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Land port operators fall behind on revenue pay

Regulator says in its latest study

Sajiadur Rahman
Private operators of land ports fall behind on paying a share of revenues to the government and developing infrastructure, which the regulator sees as a breach of contract.
Operators of Sonamasjid and Hili are yet to pay the port authority about Tk 3 crore and Tk 80 lakh respectively, Bangladesh Land Port Authority (BLPA) said in its latest report.
Sonamasjid and Hili are the two land ports among the four that have been put under private management to streamline border trade with Bangladesh's neighbouring countries, mainly India.
“These private operators have not been paying the amount of revenues they are supposed to pay in line with agreements, although they were served several reminders," a senior BLPA official told The Daily Star.
Agreements bind Sonamasjid and Hili to pay the BLPA 49 percent of their gross revenue earnings. A 28.09 percent share of the earnings is for Teknaf and 31.26 percent for Banglabandh land ports.
According to the BLPA study, the operators failed to develop infrastructure facilities, including constructing warehouses, procuring modern equipment and adopting latest technology.
Although the Teknaf land port
operator pays the due share of revenue earnings to the government, it is yet to build establishments and recruit required manpower to better services, says the BLPA study.
There are 12 land ports in the country. Of them. Sonamasjid in Chapainawabganj, Hili in Dinajpur, Banglabandh in Panchagarh and Teknaf in Cox's Bazar have already been awarded to private operators in phases since 2003. Two ports -- Bibir Bazar in Comilla and Birol in Dinajpur are in final stage for handing over to private operators.
Other ports that will be taken over by private operators under the Build Operate-Transfer (BOT)
arrangement for a period of 25 years are: Bhomra in Satkhira, Akhaura in Brahmanbaria and Burimari in Lalmonirhat districts.
The government initiated this BOT arrangement for the land ports to gear up cross-border trade with neighbouring countries -- India, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan.
As per the terms and conditions of the arrangement, the operators must develop physical infrastructure including warehouses, procuring modern equipment and adopting latest technologies and recruiting adequate manpower.
"We handle only three to four items through the port. The government was supposed to allow more
items to be imported through the port," said Mustafizur Rahman, assistant manager of Panama Hili Port Link Ltd, the operator of the port.
Rahman said they would pay the BLPA the full dues in phases despite passinga bad time.
No official of Panama-Sonamasjid Port Link Ltd was available for comments. But a Panama-Hili Port Link official said there are some common shareholders in the two companies.
Meanwhile, Banglabandh in Panchagarh district is not functioning properly because of the absence of a tripartite agreement involving Bangladesh, India and Nepal, according to the port authority officials. The 10-acre Banglabandh port was handed over to a private operator in October 2005.
Birol land port, which was brought under private management in 2006, remained fully unutilised for trade because of the absence of road link and broad-gauge rail route.
Bibir Bazar is not working because the Indian authority is yet to issue pass for the loaded trucks.
“We have written to the National Board of Revenue that has requested the foreign ministry to place the issue before the Indian authority. But there is no visible progress yet,” said a BLPA official.