Chattogram port is facing a severe problem in the delivery of cargo stockpiled in its yards due to the unprecedented tailback on the Chattogram-Dhaka Highway and the inter-district roads.
Although the traffic movement on the highway slightly eased in the beginning of the last year due to the opening of the Feni overpass, the truckers still take 15 to 18 hours to reach Dhaka from the port city.
Many places of the highway are experiencing prolonged stopover of cargo carriers from Feni to Dhaka during the last few days.
This is leaving not only the Dhaka-bound cargo carriers in a gridlock but also causing the unusual delay in shipment of export goods bound for the Chattogram port.
Businesses said the impasse on the highway caused stockpiling of containerised cargo in the port yards.
They said that generally around 4,500 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of import containers are delivered from the Chattogram port a day, which has come down to 3,500 TEUs a day on average, leading to congestion in the port yards.
Data available with the Chittagong Port Authority said that only 2,542 TEUs of container were delivered from the port on May 12. On May 13, it was 3,518 TEUs of containers, on May 14 it was 3, 314 TEUs, on May 15 it was 4, 328 TEUs and on May 16 it was 4, 635 TEUs.
Besides, about half a million tonnes of rice, sugar, chick peas, oil and other food items imported through the port for the Ramadan could not be transported to other districts due to the tailback on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway, they said.
The Chattogram port's container holding capacity is around 37, 000 TEUs but currently the number of containers in the yards is around 41, 000 TEUs. The Kamalapur ICD-bound containers have failed to reach the destination, they said.
Similarly, export containers bound for the port are facing inordinate delay.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA, the industry group, alleged that its members are failing to meet the shipment schedule as 383 containers of export cargo could not avail the ships in the port.
The situation has been further worsened due to the restrictions of the axle control system imposed by the Roads and Highways Department, said Mahbubul Alam, president of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
He said that a transport mode, which had earlier carried 22 to 23 tonnes of cargo, cannot carry over 13 tonnes of cargo now due to the weight restriction. He termed it "very discouraging" for the businesses of the Chattogram region because such a restriction is not in force on other national highways.
Mr Alam said the restrictions on the axle load control should be lifted at least for the Ramadan month as the people throughout the country need unrestricted flow of supply of the Ramadan goods imported through the prime seaport.
He said that the restriction on axle load is hampering the flow of supply of consumer goods to the countrymen because the trucks that could carry more cargo can carry a little more than half the cargo.
Over and above, the truckers are charging abnormally high fares on the ground of traffic gridlock that takes higher time to reach Dhaka than the usual, he said.
"I've already urged the Roads and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader and sent a letter from the CCCI on behalf of our members and the exporters, importers and industrialists to lift the embargo," he told reporters on Wednesday.
Mr Alam said he had further talks with the minister on the issue and the minister has assured him of lifting the axle load control for the month of Ramadan.
Regarding allegations of the BGMEA leaders of sailing three ships without taking 383 export containers, the Chittagong Port Authority said the news published in some newspapers was not based on facts.
The port agency said that the port maintains the cut-off time to avoid ship congestion as it is practiced in other ports of the world.
The cut-off time in the port is 8.00 AM on the day of arrival of the ship.
But considering the request of the BGMEA and the limitations of the exporters and the importance of exports to the national economy, the port operator has further extended the cut-off time by 24 hours.
Furthermore, the CPA considers special cases of the apparel export sector and takes the export containers of the garment sector providing further three hours to avail of the sailing ships, officials said.
