The government has made it mandatory the release of 20 per cent of the total imports of raw cotton and capital machinery of Chittagong Port through Pangaon Inland Container Terminal till February 2016. The mandatory amount will subsequently be increased to 40 per cent from March 2016. The shipping ministry on November 11 issued an order saying that the government had made the decision to make Pangaon port vibrant and operational. According to the order signed by the ministry’s senior assistant secretary Shakhawat Hossain, from March 2016, traders must have to release 40 per cent of the two products through Pangaon until the next order is issued. The ministry also reviewed the requirement of importers before making the decision, the order stated. The ministry also asked the Chittagong Port Authority to take necessary steps for implementing the decision. Officials concerned said all the products released at Pangaon were imported through Chittagong Port as the navigability of the river route from Chittagong to Pangaon cannot support movement of large vessels. Officials of the ministry and Pangaon customs house said that the decision was made in line with the recommendation of the National Board of Revenue in a bid to fully utilise the capacity of the port that has remained practically unutilised for the last 24 months due to various problems including very little response of traders to import and export through the port. Importers and exporters at an inter-ministerial meeting on November 3 expressed their support to the move of the NBR in this connection. Prime minister Sheikh Hasina in November 2013 inaugurated Pangaon at Keraniganj of Dhaka on the river bank of the Buriganga to ease pressure of cargo movement on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway and railways through transportation of exported and imported goods through waterways. But the traders remained reluctant to use the port mainly due to higher cost of container vessels and other port charges, lack of containers and vessels and irregular schedule of vessels. Officials of the Pangaon Customs House, however, said it was not clear in the order that which customs houses — Chittagong or Pangaon — would conduct assessment of the imported products and collect customs duties. They will seek opinion of the revenue board on the matter, a high official told New Age on Tuesday. Chittagong Port Authority member (administration) Jafar Alam said he had yet to receive the order. The CPA will take necessary steps after getting the order, he said. The ministry has also taken another step to make the port operational by reducing port charges ranging from 40 per cent to 70 per cent. It will issue an order in this regard after getting consent from the finance ministry, the officials said.
