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The government's strict rules on private sector Inland Container Depot (ICD) has driven the investors away from setting up ICDs for handling containers in the ports.
Though the government allowed the private sector to set up ICDs since 1998, only 11 small depots were set up and together they could handle only 22,215 Twenty Equivalent Unit (TEU) containers.
Sources said Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) has recently pointed out to the government that the private sector investors are shying away from this prof itable investment as the present rules allow the private sector ICDs to stuff vacant cargoes for only export purposes.
In meetings and letters to the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the Authority has demanded that the Board allow the private sector ICDs to handle import cargoes so that they get bigger slice of the market.
The Authority has further claimed that to face the future challenges container handling needs huge investment in private sector and unless that happens in the near future, container congestion in the Chittagong port would remain a daily feature.
The CPA's reminders follow impressive growth of container handling in Chittagong port for the last few years. Last year country's biggest seaport handled 624,560 containers against an annual capacity of 300,000.
The CPA recently started construction work of New Mooring Container Terminal but it would take August 2007 to finish the work.
"The congestion problem would get more acute as we are witnessing a huge growth of container arrival in the Chittagong port for the last few years. In 2003 alone, the growth was 18.6 per cent. Yet, we haven't done anything to ease the additional pressure," a source at the CPA admitted.
He added under the private sector ICD guidelines set by the NBR, a private sector investor could set up one within 20 kilometres of the Chittagong port. " For many, it is a very hard rule to comply with."
"We urged the government to slacken this rule so that the private sector can select an area of their choice to set up a big ICD," he said adding Ocean Containers, presently the biggest private ICD, could handle only 5000 TEUs.
QNS Container Services and Shafi Motors, set up respectively at Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) and Sagarika Road, Chittagong, are the second biggest ICDs. Each can handle 3000 TEUs.
Commenting on the CPA's demand, Ali Ahmed, member, Customs of the NBR, said the Board has examined the proposals. "But right at the moment, we don't have any plan to revise the existing guidelines."
"Since export cargoes don't tag any duties, it is easier to monitor the private ICDs that are handling such cargoes. But in case of import cargoes, the Board has to ensure a number of procedures. A lot of regulations are also involved in the process," he said.
Besides, he added, the Board does not have enough men to place and monitor each of the private ICDs. "Maybe we will be able to allow this in the future."
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