By AKM Moinuddin
UNB Staff Writer
Dhaka, July 9 (UNB) - The much talked about relocation of the tanneries from Hazaribagh in the capital to Savar is still in limbo as the government is yet to set up a central Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) there.
Environmentalists and tannery owners blamed the bureaucracy for the delay in setting up the central ETP in Savar, which impeded the move that was aimed at ensuring public safety and free the capital from pollution.
The deadline to set up the central ETP and shift the environmentally hazardous tanneries from city's Hazaribagh to Savar ended on April 30 this year.
Three Project Directors have so far went on LPR (leave preparatory to retirement) but the central ETP project remained unimplemented.
The current Project Director, M Mahbubur Rahman said they have made substantial progress. “We’ve received the financial offers. It’s now being evaluated by the technical committee comprising representatives of BUET and WASA and environmental and City Corporation experts.”
Once the evaluation is completed, the financial offers will be sent to the purchase committee and the Notification of Award will be given to the suitable bidder as soon as possible, he said.
“It’s a gigantic job. There is no lack of sincerity. Actually we’ve lack of experts. It’ll take another three months to give the work order,” Mahbubur Rahman said.
Industries Minister Dilip Barua said the government would try its best to complete the ETP project within the shortest possible time.
“We’re not sitting idle. We’re following all formalities to keep the entire process beyond question,” he said.
Replying to a question, Barua said they will give the work order as soon as possible, hopefully by next month.
In view of the tremendous environmental and health hazards, the government had taken up a project in 2003 to relocate the tanneries from the capital to Savar.
The government prepared the first project proposal in 2003. The initial estimated cost of the three-year project was Tk 1.75 billion, which later shot up to Tk 5.45 billion as per the revised project document in 2007.
There are some 195 tanneries at Hazaribagh in the city and the proposed under-construction tannery estate in Savar will accommodate some 155 factories.
The Tk 5 billion central ETP project, initiated in January 2003, was scheduled to be completed by December 2005. However, the construction schedule was later extended to June 2010.
On June 1 this year, State Minister for Environment and Forests Dr Hasan Mahmud informed Parliament that the relocation of the Hazaribagh tanneries will be completed by the end of 2012.
The High Court on June 23, 2009 asked the government to either shift all the tanneries from the capital to a special industrial zone in Savar or shut them by February 28, 2010, to check widespread pollution of environment.
The court order came following a petition by Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers' Association (BELA) and Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB).
But the court twice extended the deadline by six months due to the delay in implementing the CETP project.
END/UNB/AKM/
Friday, July 8, 2011
Ctg port tops 12 'super efficient' ports in Asia
By AKM Moinuddin
UNB Staff Writer
Despite having shortage of modern equipment, country's key seaport, Chittagong port, secured top position in terms of efficiency among 69 ports of 17 countries in Asia, says a recent study, reports UNB.
The report -- Benchmarking the Efficiency of Asian Container Ports -- says Chittagong port is using existing old and new equipment at its optimum level, and the study found Chittagong port as the most efficient port.
The researchers reached this conclusion after evaluating data of five years and the study carried out in 2010. The study findings were published in African Journal of Business Management (Vol. 5(4), pp. 1397-1407) on February 18 this year.
According to the study findings, 12 ports have been ranked for 'super efficiency' with Chittagong topping the list.
The ports of Zamboanga and General Santos in the Philippines were in the second and third position respectively in the super efficiency category.
Xiamen of China, Sihanoukville of Cambodia, Davao of the Philippines, Yantian of China, Lianyungang of China, PSA Int. of Singapore, Tianjin of China, Mumbai of India, and Guangzhou of China were among the other 12 ports in the category.
The remaining 47 ports are inefficient in terms of both technical efficiency and scale efficiency levels.
Given the current phase of globalisation and competition, port performance is of major importance for port competitiveness, the report said.
The study analysed the technical efficiency and scale efficiency of Asian container ports by means of DEA. The analysis shows that the main source of overall technical inefficiency in Asian container ports is due to pure technical inefficiencies rather than scale inefficiencies.
About 35 per cent of the container ports exhibit decreasing returns to scale. These ports can decrease their scale of operations by giving up some of the terminal assets and operational functions to other specialised private entities via concessions and leaseholds.
This will allow efficient handling and transit of containers as well as help promote intra-port competition between multiple service providers within a port which can lead to higher efficiency gains.
Strategies that impact on the volume and nature of trade are to become a hub, seek World Trade Organisation (WTO) membership, provide dedicated container terminals, seek cooperation strategies between ports and improve on their transport infrastructure to link with the hinterland.
The analysis also revealed that Chinese container ports enjoy a clear lead in the Asian region in terms of containers handled and they are very competitive. Size and ownership structure are not determinants of efficiency level in container ports.
In the last decade, the shipping industry and the global seaborne trade have witnessed a rapid growth due to globalisation of the world economy, boom in international trade and borderless investments.
As competition among international ports has intensified, the evaluation of port operational efficiency has become increasingly important to enable individual ports to reflect on its current status quo and understand their strengths and weaknesses in the competitive environment.
The study was conducted to investigate the technical and scale efficiency of major container ports in the Asian region.
It employed the non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) Technique to benchmark and evaluated the operating performance of 69 major Asian container ports to generate efficiency ranking.
The results indicate that the average technical efficiency of the Asian container ports is 48.4 per cent.
The overall technical inefficiency in Asian container ports is due to pure technical inefficiency rather than scale inefficiency.
The results of the study can indicate possible improvements in port management and operational planning at local and national levels.
END/UNB/AKM
UNB Staff Writer
Despite having shortage of modern equipment, country's key seaport, Chittagong port, secured top position in terms of efficiency among 69 ports of 17 countries in Asia, says a recent study, reports UNB.
The report -- Benchmarking the Efficiency of Asian Container Ports -- says Chittagong port is using existing old and new equipment at its optimum level, and the study found Chittagong port as the most efficient port.
The researchers reached this conclusion after evaluating data of five years and the study carried out in 2010. The study findings were published in African Journal of Business Management (Vol. 5(4), pp. 1397-1407) on February 18 this year.
According to the study findings, 12 ports have been ranked for 'super efficiency' with Chittagong topping the list.
The ports of Zamboanga and General Santos in the Philippines were in the second and third position respectively in the super efficiency category.
Xiamen of China, Sihanoukville of Cambodia, Davao of the Philippines, Yantian of China, Lianyungang of China, PSA Int. of Singapore, Tianjin of China, Mumbai of India, and Guangzhou of China were among the other 12 ports in the category.
The remaining 47 ports are inefficient in terms of both technical efficiency and scale efficiency levels.
Given the current phase of globalisation and competition, port performance is of major importance for port competitiveness, the report said.
The study analysed the technical efficiency and scale efficiency of Asian container ports by means of DEA. The analysis shows that the main source of overall technical inefficiency in Asian container ports is due to pure technical inefficiencies rather than scale inefficiencies.
About 35 per cent of the container ports exhibit decreasing returns to scale. These ports can decrease their scale of operations by giving up some of the terminal assets and operational functions to other specialised private entities via concessions and leaseholds.
This will allow efficient handling and transit of containers as well as help promote intra-port competition between multiple service providers within a port which can lead to higher efficiency gains.
Strategies that impact on the volume and nature of trade are to become a hub, seek World Trade Organisation (WTO) membership, provide dedicated container terminals, seek cooperation strategies between ports and improve on their transport infrastructure to link with the hinterland.
The analysis also revealed that Chinese container ports enjoy a clear lead in the Asian region in terms of containers handled and they are very competitive. Size and ownership structure are not determinants of efficiency level in container ports.
In the last decade, the shipping industry and the global seaborne trade have witnessed a rapid growth due to globalisation of the world economy, boom in international trade and borderless investments.
As competition among international ports has intensified, the evaluation of port operational efficiency has become increasingly important to enable individual ports to reflect on its current status quo and understand their strengths and weaknesses in the competitive environment.
The study was conducted to investigate the technical and scale efficiency of major container ports in the Asian region.
It employed the non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) Technique to benchmark and evaluated the operating performance of 69 major Asian container ports to generate efficiency ranking.
The results indicate that the average technical efficiency of the Asian container ports is 48.4 per cent.
The overall technical inefficiency in Asian container ports is due to pure technical inefficiency rather than scale inefficiency.
The results of the study can indicate possible improvements in port management and operational planning at local and national levels.
END/UNB/AKM
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