Project worth Tk 46.62b up for ECNEC approval

Another hefty sum of Tk 31.74 billion is to be invested over the next two years in maintenance dredging along the 75-kilometre channel of the Payra Port, which continuously faces navigability challenges for its distance from the sea estuary.

Additionally, two hopper dredgers will be procured at a cost of Tk 14.0 billion for regular maintenance dredging to maintain navigability in the long term to keep the seaport operational, officials say.

In this regard, the Ministry of Shipping has proposed a project titled 'Maintenance Dredging of Rabnabad Channel of Payra Port and Procurement of Hopper Dredger'.

The estimated aggregate cost of the project is Tk 46.62 billion, which will cover dredging operations, dredger procurement and associated activities, said Planning Commission sources.

"The Physical Infrastructure Division of the Planning Commission reviewed the proposal at a project-evaluation committee (PEC) meeting Wednesday and decided to forward it to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for final approval, subject to the incorporation of certain recommendations," a senior planning official said.

Two more development projects -- one of Tk 1.61 billion for the digitisation of the Payra Port and another of Tk 4.90 billion to provide housing facilities for the port's officers and staff -- are also scheduled to be reviewed at two separate PEC meetings within this month, he added.

A total of Tk 53.12 billion needs to be spent on the Payra Port over the next three years beyond the scope of the existing projects.

The entire cost is to be borne by the government from its own funds if the three projects receive the seal of final approval.

Officials have said the Payra Port Authority previously spent Tk 72.89 billion between November 2020 and December last year under a development project and a revenue programme for capital dredging and channel maintenance to support operations at the yet-under-construction port on the southern shore of the Bay of Bengal.

Stakeholders and experts are questioning the justification for the new dredging project, as the port channel remains non-navigable despite the substantial expenditure on previous dredging efforts.

The PEC meeting also recommended including a detailed breakdown of the port's revenue and expenditure, along with projected earnings from the proposed dredging, before the project is submitted for the final all-clear, officials said.

Earlier in March this year, Planning Adviser of the interim government Prof Wahiduddin Mahmud at a press briefing had termed the Payra Port a "poison for the economy," citing its high maintenance costs and limited utility.

He said the port would need two dredgers every year to remain operational, mainly to support coal imports for a nearby power plant.

"Payra is far from being a seaport. At best, it is a wharf for small vessels," he said, adding that a large sum has already been spent and the project's viability is now in question.

He criticised the port as a wrong public investment at several meetings, including the post-budget briefing arranged by the finance ministry.

However, he suggested following a site visit that the port could be developed as an alternative to Chattogram and Mongla ports in case either is disrupted by natural disasters or geopolitical tensions, a Planning Commission official said.

The new dredging project, proposed by the Ministry of Shipping and to be implemented by the Payra Port Authority, aims to maintain a 10.5-metre draft over a 75-kilometre stretch of the Rabnabad channel and procure two trailing suction hopper dredgers.

Officials say the goal is to enable safe navigation of Panamax-class commercial vessels with a capacity of 40,000 deadweight tonnes (DWT).

The latest project also raises broader questions about public investment priorities at a time when Bangladesh faces growing fiscal pressure, sluggish revenue mobilisation, and dwindling development aid.

In the past, many development projects saw unusually high spending and numerous unnecessary initiatives were taken, says Professor Mustafizur Rahman, a distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).

He notes that the economy is now facing the consequences of those mistakes.

Besides, he says, significant investments have been made, and the port is already in limited use. If it is not kept operational, all that money will be wasted.

He emphasises that the remaining port infrastructure must be built in a "highly cost-effective way, and steps should be taken to minimise financial losses by maximising the port's utilisation".

Spending nearly Tk 50 billion on dredging when health, education, and climate-adaptation sectors remain underfunded reflects misplaced priorities, said a budget analyst at a local think- tank.

"We are treating symptoms, not causes. Why is there no long-term siltation-management strategy or sustainable port-development plan yet?"

Even government documents showed that if maintenance dredging did not continue beyond April 2024, the channel would begin to silt up again, rendering previous capital investments futile.

The port's dredging history is long--and costly. Since its inception in 2013 as a flagship project to spur economic development in the backwater southern region, it has relied heavily on expensive capital and maintenance dredging.

The initial dredging contract - awarded controversially in a public-private partnership (PPP) model to Belgian firm Jan De Nul - was later converted into a government-funded project amid disputes and financing complications.

The capital-dredging component alone reportedly cost over Tk 68.75 billion.

The port authority implemented another project titled 'Emergency Maintenance Dredging of the Rabnabad Channel (Inner and Outer Channels)' between November 2020 and June 2022 at a cost of Tk 4.13 billion.

Despite a Tk 72.88-billion investment, the port still lacks in-house dredging capacity and dredgers must be purchased now to keep the channel navigable--a gap that critics argue should have been addressed in the original project.

jahid.rn@gmail.com