BM Container Depot, a Chattogram-based private ICD that was ravaged by a devastating fire in June last, is ready to resume its full-fledged operation as the customs authorities gave green signal in this regard last week, officials said.
The inland container depot (ICD), established under a joint venture initiative of Bangladesh and The Netherlands companies in 2011, is now capable of handling export, import and empty containers.
Earlier on October 24 last, the Chittagong Customs House allowed the private ICD to carry out activities only related to apparel exports for a period of three months.
Recently, the depot authorities received no objection certificate (NOC) from the Chittagong Port Authority, alongside necessary licences from the Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence, and applied to the customs authority for permission to resume full-fledged operations.
Officials said the Chittagong Customs last week in a letter to the depot authority gave the approval to begin the operations.
The fire incident, which was fuelled by the presence of a huge volume of hydrogen-per-oxide in nearby containers, is believed to be the deadliest in the history of container depots in the country.
At least 49 people were killed and several hundred injured, including burn injuries, while many had to go for amputation.
The investigation committees have blamed the negligence of the depot authority on safety issues and absence of required fire fighting equipment behind the severe casualties and injury.
Nurul Qayyum Khan, president of Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association (BICDA), told the FE that resumption of full-fledged operation of the depot was necessary for the interest of the country's export sector in particular.
The company used to handle a significant volume of imports and empty containers.
He said the depot has a handling capacity of 5,000 to 7,000 TEUs (twenty foot-equivalent units) of containers which remained suspended since the fire incident in early June, putting an immense pressure on other depots.
"Yes, we have some lapses on compliance issues and, after this incident, we are trying to comply with," said Mr Khan.
He thought that the country needs more inland container depots to handle the rising export-import containers.
