A total of 24 machinery equipment worth about four hundred crore taka, including gantry cranes, mobile cranes, container movers, have been purchased for the development of Chattogram Port. Equipment worth Tk 393 crore 32 lakh has been purchased from China, Germany, Finland, Belgium and France.
State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, MP, said that the capacity of Bangladesh, including Chattogram Port, has increased under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. “Our Padma Bridge, Matarbari Deep Sea Port, Bay Terminal, Payra Port are examples of our capabilities. We want to be with the world, not abroad. Established countries of the world have expressed interest in investing in Chattogram port. We will move forward by preserving the interests of the country,” she said.
Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury further said that the shipping sector is moving forward. It is not possible to build a smart and developed Bangladesh without maritime. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina emphasized on that matter. The whole world is looking at Bangladesh. The country is moving forward with the skills of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Bangabandhu Tunnel is another point of pride. Telling the whole world about our capabilities, he added. He said these at a function organised on the occasion of the inauguration of 7 types of 24 machines collected at Chattogram port on Sunday.
Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury later inaugurated the Training Simulator and the newly constructed Officers Dormitory Building at the Bandar Training Complex. Tk 23 crores 10 lakhs have been spent on the purchase of simulators. Tk1 crore 87 lakh was spent on simulator repair, maintenance, training and procurement of spare parts. The Officers Dormitory building has 10 floors with 32 units.
104 machines are being procured at a cost of around Tk 914 crore to speed up the operation of Chattogram port. In the meantime, 24 machines of seven types worth about Tk 393 crore 33 lakh have been added to the operational work of the port. The remaining equipment will be added in phases.
The newly acquired equipment includes 4 gantry cranes worth Tk 243 crore, 6 rubber Tyred gantry cranes worth Tk 70 crore, four reach stackers worth Rs 14 crore, 4 variable reach trucks worth Tk 25 crore, 2 container movers worth Tk 7 crore, two mobilesCrane (100 tons) worth Tk 20 crore and two mobile cranes (50 tons) at Tk 11 Crores, 4 key gantry cranes purchased at the port currently has 18 gantry cranes in its fleet. Container handling at Chittagong port in fiscal year 2022-23 was 30 lakh 7 thousand 344 TEUs, general cargo handling was 11 crore 82 lakh 96 thousand 743 tonnes. Vessel handling was 4253.
Then State Minister Khalid said in a function organized on the occasion of the 136th day of Chattogram Port at Bandar Stadium that the country went into darkness after the assassination of Bangabandhu.
The country has not seen the light. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh has now emerged from darkness to the path of light. Our national treasure Sheikh Hasina is the guide of our path of light. Bangladesh is currently standing with standards and dignity.
Bangabandhu took the extremely poor Bangladesh to the heights of the Himalayas, from that Himalayas Bangladesh rushed towards darkness in 75. Now we can proudly say that Bangladesh is moving from darkness to light under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. US President wanting to take a selfie with our Prime Minister, French President taking a boat ride, walking the streets of Dhaka, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi waiting at Hyderabad House to welcome our Prime Minister, Chinese President praising Sheikh Hasina's leadership, these are our pride.
Chittagong Port is the life line of Bangladesh economy. Across Padma, Meghna, Jamuna, the whole of Bangladesh has been touched by development. We are proud of Chattogram port. Big operators of the world want to work on Chattogram port in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is moving forward under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina. When Matarbari Sea Port, Bangabandhu Tunnel, Padma Bridge, Third Airport Terminal in Dhaka, Payra Port, Elevated Expressway are being built, the vested interests are trying to push back the country.
They want to drag the development by talking about human rights. We have to be careful. People are being killed like birds in Palestine, there is no one to speak about human rights. Bangladesh is moving forward under the leadership of national treasure Sheikh Hasina. Chattogram Port is playing an important role in this regard. Chattogram Port is leading the economy in the entire country. Will play a greater role in the future.
Members of parliament of Banshkhali Mostafizur Rahman, ZillaParishad Chairman Pear Islam, Shipping Ministry Senior Secretary Md. Mostafa Kamal, Chattogram Port Chairman M. Sohail, Port Secretary Md. Faruq, CBA leader Naibul Islam Fatik and other senior officials were present.
Earlier in the morning, he visited National Maritime Institute (NMI), Chattogram 25th and NMI, Madaripur 14th batch passing out.
Meanwhile, State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury said that four more National Maritime Institutes are being established in Kurigram, Rajshahi, Dinajpur and Meherpur with the aim of creating skilled human resources in the shipping sector. Already National Maritime Institute, Madaripur has been established under the control of National Maritime Institute of Chattogram. National Maritime Institute, Madaripur will be inaugurated soon. It will be possible to provide training to 600 people every year in two batches of 300 people in each batch.
Md. Mostafa Kamal, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Shipping, Director General of the Directorate of Shipping Commodore MaqsudAlam, Principal of NMI Captain Ataur Rahman spoke on the occasion.
This year Md Saimun received the gold medal courtesy of Bangladesh Shipping Corporation for all-round rating and Md ShabbirMondal received the silver medal courtesy of M/s Haque& Sons Limited. 296 trainees participated in the training course.
Shipping minister said that all sectors of the country are working together to build Bangabandhu's dream of Sonar Bangla. Bangladesh has qualified for transition from least developed to developing country and is progressing from developing country to developed country. As a partner of this, the shipping sector has been able to play an important role in the leadership of the government of Prime Minister Deshratna Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of the father of the nation. Therefore, with the aim of creating skilled human resources in the shipping sector, related organizations including training institutions are working tirelessly.
The State Minister later inaugurated the newly constructed memorial 'Sritimoy 71' and the '71 Massacre' memorial at the National Maritime Institute in Chattogram.
