State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury has directed to speed up the construction of Patenga Container Terminal and Bay Terminal.
The state minister gave the directive at a meeting held between Chittagong Port Authority and Public Private Partnership (PPP) on the appointment of an operator at the Patenga Container Terminal project and the construction of a Bay Terminal at the Secretariat on Wednesday.
He said that ‘Patenga Container Terminal’ and ‘Bay Terminal’ will see the light of day quickly. The Ministry of Shipping is able to implement the ideas of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in advancing the country's economy, he added.
The meeting was attended by Shipping Secretary Mohammad Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury, PPP Authority Chief Executive Officer (Secretary) Sultana Afroz and Chittagong Port Authority Chairman Rear Admiral Sheikh Md Abul Kalam Azad.
It was informed at the meeting that the volume of goods or container handling through Chittagong port is increasing at a rate of about 12 percent. PCT construction project was undertaken to increase the container handling capacity of Chittagong port.
The PCT will have 583 meter long container jetty with backup facilities, 220 meter long dolphin jetty, 89 thousand square meter RCC yard and 2,128 square meter container customs station; 2,150 meter long 6 meter high custom bonded house, 2,500 meter railway truck, 420 meter flyover, 1,200 square meter mechanical workshop and 5,580 square meter office building.
Expenditure on construction of PCT has been estimated- 1,127 crore 57 lakh 50 thousand taka for construction work, 142 crore taka for railway work and 496 crore 60 lakh taka for equipment. Annual container handling capacity is 4 lakh TEU’s (20 feet long container).
Work of the Patenga Container Terminal will be completed by June 2021. When the construction work is completed, berthing facility of 3 ships will be made at the jetty.