The deep seaport at Matarbari in Maheshkhali will bring in very good impact on the economy of the country. If the sea port is opened, then the traders could complete the task of export-import to many countries in Europe and America without the transit hassle. This will reduce the transport cost up to 30 percent and 10 to 14 days’ time will be saved in export-import, which will initiate economic revolution. The government is planning to run the activities of the port within 2026.

Omar Faruque, the secretary of Chattogram Seaport said, “The ships of 16 meters draft could anchor at the port upon the completion of Matarbari Deep Seaport. As a result, the traders could transport goods without facing the hassle of transit. Because of direct export from this port, each year we could save 6 billion dollars. In addition, billions of dollars will also be earned upon using this port by different countries.”

According to the sources, the work of constructing deep seaport was started in thousands of acre of land in Matarbari area of Maheshkhali in 2020. The task of making 14.3 long approach channel is already completed. Furthermore, the dredging work is going on for increasing the depth of the channel and the construction of tide-protection dam is finished. Meanwhile, the tenders has been called for civil works for port construction, purchasing cargo handling equipment TIOS, security system tug boats, survey boats and pilot boats, which are in the ministry for approval.

Apart from this, the government is thinking of starting the final process of constructing the deep sea port by July-August. Traders in the country have to use the seaport of a third country to transport goods from Bangladesh to Europe-America and other countries of the world. At present, the country's importers and exporters are using Singapore, Sri Lanka's Colombo or Malaysia's Kelang port as transit ports. On the one hand, the cost of transportation increases due to import-export through third countries, and the time increases from 10 to 14 days. To overcome this problem, the government plans to build a deep sea port in Matarbari. The initial cost of constructing the country's first deep sea port has been estimated at 17, 777 crores. The government plans to develop Matarbari as the commercial hub of the region based on the deep sea port. Chittagong, Mongla, Payara ports will transport goods directly to different countries of the world using this deep sea ports. In addition, other countries of the world will use this port. It will cause an economic revolution, the authorities think.

The deep seaport will have a 300m long multipurpose jetty, a 460m long container berthing jetty, along with 14.3 km long approach channel with a width of 350 meters and a depth of 16 meters. The tide-prevention dam is 2 thousand 150 meters long in the north and 670 meters in the south.

@The report was published in Bengali on print and online versions of The Bangladesh Pratidin on April 11 and rewritten in English by Lutful Hoque