Bay Terminal’s dredging project to be approved mid-March

Business Desk:

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) is expected to approve the development project proposal (DPP) for breakwater construction and access channel dredging at the Bay Terminal of the Chattogram port in mid-March.

Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) Chairman Rear Admiral SM Moniruzzaman shared the informationon Thursday, adding that once the DPP is approved, a loan agreement with the World Bank will follow, enabling the start of physical work.

He was speaking at a press briefing at Shaheed Fazlur Rahman Munshi Auditorium in the port city.
In June last year, the World Bank approved a $650 million loan for this part of the project.

The Bay Terminal, featuring two container terminals and a multi-purpose terminal, will handle around 5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers, up from the port’s current capacity of 3.2 million TEUs.

Moniruzzaman termed the project a “game changer” for the economy.

A senior CPA official said a pre-Ecnec meeting on the DPP is scheduled for March 6, with final approval expected on March 14.

He noted that no new multi-modal connectivity is required as railway, roadway, and river links already exist.