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Kutubdia going to become lighthouse for economic dev


Published : 06 Nov 2019 09:28 PM | Updated : 06 Sep 2020 10:21 AM

Kutubdia- a small Island that is adorned with the Daughter of Bengal, is being turned into a lighthouse for the country’s economic growth.
Authorities concerned said the island is full of natural minerals, also is considered as the main reservoir of natural resources like oil and gas. Beaches, coastline and foothills of the island are full of valuable minerals and these resources are urgently needed to be tapped.

Geographically the locations of Kutubdia and Moheskhali are important in the Bay of Bengal. As the land is very low in the island, the government can take initiatives to build infrastructures to extract minerals and ports around the islands. Visiting these islands, it has been witnessed that, these islands have economic potentialities and investment is needed to tap the resources.

Concerned sources said, to attract both local and foreign investments the government is also interested to take development projects on these islands. In the meantime, the authority is taking steps to conduct feasibility studies to set up seaports, various projects in the power and energy sector, extract natural resources and implement other possible projects.

Country’s biggest corporate industrial group Beximco, Summit Group, Indian Reliance Group, Petronet, Abdul Monem Group and other government stakeholders are very much interested to invest in these islands. According to Beximco Group information, they have taken preparations for investing in a huge way in the power and energy sector, also continuing Techno-Economic Study. They want around 700 to 900 acres of land in the offshore of Kutubdia for economic activities.

Based on the Chittagong Port Authority and other sources information, Beximco is interested to invest in various projects under the titled ‘Kutubdia Energy Hub Limited Company’. These include LNG stations, LPG stations and power projects. In this regard, the group has sought cooperation of the Chittagong Port Authority for getting technical support to construct seaport infrastructures and importing port handling equipment.

Primarily, the group wants to purchase 600 acres of land to get it even on lease. Firstly, they want to construct necessary infrastructures on 101 acres of land and the remaining lands will be used in implementing other projects. The projected investment of the company has been estimated at $ 25 crore.

Experts opined that, there are huge reserve of natural resources and minerals. For the last four decades, local and foreign experts have significantly assessed about this rewarding reservoirs of natural resources. But due to lack of effective steps, the economic benefits of these resources are yet to be tapped.

In 1977, American Union Oil Company discovered gas field at Kutubdia. Among the country’s 30 discovered gas fields, Kutubdia stands at number nine. However, no step has yet taken to develop or expand the gas field, even to explore gas assuming the shortage of reserve. Professor Mohammad Kamal Hossain of Forest and Environmental Sciences of Chittagong University, in his research report, states that, due to its geographical dividend these islands have the potentials to establish a deep sea port. Due to poor navigability, only 18 percent vessels arrive at the Chittagong Port, whereas majority of the mother vessels remain anchoring near Kutubdia.