A UK-based firm yesterday said it plans to invest $794.5 million to upgrade Mongla port into an internationally standard seaport.
James Sutcliffe, chairman of Port Evolution Management Ltd, presented the multi-billion dollar plan for the country’s second largest seaport and its surrounding region at a meeting with Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan at the latter’s secretariat office in Dhaka.
“The private investment proposal covers setting up a container terminal, an oil terminal and tank and a special economic zone with its own 300-450 megawatt power station,” the minister told reporters after the meeting.
The British firm will also set up a water treatment plant for the locals.
Khan said the government would examine pros and cons of the proposal before signing any final agreement.
The upgrade work will be implemented in the next four years, he said, adding that Mongla port development is crucial for awarding transit facility to Nepal and Bhutan.
“Our target is to turn the port into an international one,” the minister said.
The plan is expected to create hundreds of jobs through construction and operation, which will have a major impact on the need for shipping at Mongla, officials said.
Once vibrant, the port activities have slowed down recently mainly due to indifference from the authorities concerned, labour unrest and corruption by a section of port officials and employees.
The port handled 16.49 lakh tonnes of goods and products, such as food grains, bulk cements, clinkers, fertiliser, machinery, motor vehicle, jute, shrimp and frozen food in external trades in fiscal 2009-10.
Port Evolution is a worldwide company specialising in green field port development. The firm, which owns and operates some of the UK’s ports, is currently developing a port project worth $300 million in Nigeria. The company also developed Poland’s largest deep-sea container terminal in 2007.
Shipping Secretary Md Abdul Mannan Howlader, British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Stephen Evans and Mongla Port Authority Chairman M Abul Kalam Azad were present during the press briefing.
