After a month, the authorities have decided to keep the Chattogram seaport port open 24 hours to facilitate supply of essentials without any disruption. The prime import-export hub of the country was partially closed since March 24 due to the coronavirus epidemic.
At the same time, the initiatives also were taken to supply essentials goods to remote areas and products of farmers from villages to cities. Mostaf Kamal Uddin Senior Secretary of Public Security Department under Ministry of Home Affairs and chief coordinator of relief activity in Chattogram district, said, “In this unprecedented dilemma efforts are being made to keep life normal by working together.”
He said this in Chattogram on Friday while inaugurating the biggest wholesale kitchen market of the region in an open area of Chattogram Railway station that is able to buy and sell in a healthy way by maintaining social distance. He also said everyone is on the verge of a financial crisis; the government has multiple plans to get out of it. By developing such a market system, measures are being taken to protect especially the farmers of the country.
The government had initially announced a public holiday from March 26 to April 4 and now extended it till May 5. The initial decision was to limit port activities for about two hours daily except loading and unloading of essentials goods, foods, and medicine. However, on Thursday, the government has planned to open Chattogram custom house again to keep supplying goods to all corners of the country.
The situation of Chottogram Port had been turning into a deadlock as there is no space inside the port warehouses to keep the export and import goods. Omar Faruqe, Secretary of Chottogram Port informed that in recent days where 800 to 1,000 containers were delivered from the port, it has now crossed 2,000 in the last two days.
“About 3500 containers were transported from the port on normal business days before the coronavirus attack,” he said. All sorts of public transportation services using the road, rail, water, and air routes have been closed as part of an initiative to curb community transmission of the deadly virus.
Transportation of goods from Chottogram Port has come down to a minimum due to the government declared general holiday to prevent coronavirus infection. The revenue department also stopped releasing goods other than food and medicine. As a result, million tons of goods piled up at the port warehouses.
For the last few weeks, container loading and unloading dropped to 2,000 units in a single day, whereas it was around 8000 units at the same time last year. Last year, on an average 3,500 units of containers were delivered from the port every day. Now it has come down to about 1,000 units.
The total container storage capacity of Chattogram Port is approximately 50,000 containers. The port yards are now full of containers, hardly any space left.
ABM Azad, Divisional Commissioner of Chattogram said, “With the opening of the port and related customs, banks and transport sectors, the supply chain is now open. Following the recent decision of the government, everyone involved in the supply system will now be able to do normal work.”
“However, the banking sector related to port and customs will require a separate circular from Bangladesh Bank, hopefully, it will be published soon,” he informed. He also said that in the wake of the corona epidemic, the concerned organizations have been instructed to check health of the employees working in the port.
The Chattogram seaport handles 91 percent of Bangladesh’s exports and 82 percent of its imports. Recently, the port came to a halt amid the nationwide shutdown to prevent coronavirus infection. As many as 33 ships carrying 36,000 containers are waiting at the outer anchorage to be unloaded by sending off-dock containers from the port.