PM Returns to Mongla Within Two Weeks to Lay Foundation of Tk 4,068 Crore Jetty Project on Thursday

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is travelling to Mongla Port again on Thursday (November 5), within two weeks of his last visit. The main programme of this visit is laying the foundation stone of a Tk 4,068 crore infrastructure development project, including construction of two new container jetties at the port. He is scheduled to reach the port at 10 am and join the programmes.

This is his second visit to Mongla since taking office as prime minister. Earlier, on October 22, he visited Mongla Port and the Sundarbans. On that trip he inspected the port's jetties and operations and the economic zone proposed by the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA), and discussed the economic potential of the port and the region with the officials concerned.

According to Mongla Port Authority sources, the prime minister is scheduled to arrive at Mongla Port by helicopter at 10 am on Thursday. He will first join the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Invest Bangladesh and China's China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC). At 10:30 am he will lay the foundation stone for the construction of two container jetties and ancillary facilities under the port's facilities expansion and development project. Preparations have been made to hold the programmes at the port's Jetty No. 9.

Mongla Port Authority Chairman Rear Admiral Arif Ahmed Mostafa said construction of the new jetty project will begin with the prime minister's foundation stone laying. The project is being implemented under an agreement signed between Bangladesh and China on October 10.

The project's total cost is Tk 4,068.23 crore. Of this, China will finance Tk 3,592.90 crore and the Bangladesh government will provide Tk 475.33 crore.

Under the project, two modern container jetties 368 metres long will be built. Plans also include a loaded container yard of 87,600 square metres, an empty container yard of 34,170 square metres and a specialised yard of 4,260 square metres for handling dangerous goods. A total of 49 modern pieces of equipment, including gantry cranes, will be added to container management.

According to the port authority, once the project is implemented it will be possible to handle more than 30 containers per hour, and Mongla Port will gain the capacity to handle about 400,000 TEU containers a year. The port's infrastructure capacity for berthing large ships, storing cargo and quick clearance will also increase.

Another important programme of the visit is the memorandum signing with the Chinese company. The MoU between Invest Bangladesh and CRCC may open up investment and communications infrastructure development centred on Mongla Port. Expanding the port's cargo transport links by rail is receiving particular importance.

Local MP (Bagerhat-3) and State Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Dr Sheikh Faridul Islam said the MoU with the Chinese company will create an opportunity to advance the initiative to connect Mongla Port with the railway. As a result, opportunities will grow to bring cargo by rail from the ICT to Mongla Port and send it abroad by ship from there, he hoped.

Port users say that to make use of Mongla Port's location, the waterway adjoining the Sundarbans and the industrial and economic infrastructure of the south-western region, an effective communications system must be built alongside the port's modernisation. Using the Mongla-Khulna rail and road links, there are opportunities to expand domestic cargo transport and regional trade with neighbouring countries.

After the Mongla visit, the prime minister is scheduled to leave by road for Bagerhat at around 11:15 am on Thursday. After visiting the shrine of Hazrat Khan Jahan Ali (RA) there, he will go to Khulna. At 3 pm he will inaugurate 'Notun Kuri Sports-2', a sports talent hunt programme for children and adolescents organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports at Khulna District Stadium. He is then scheduled to leave for Dhaka by helicopter at around 4:30 pm.