Posted on February 18, 2019
The entrance of the Payra Deep Sea Port, beyond which a concrete road connecting the port with the national highway is currently in progress Mehedi Al Amin/Dhaka Tribune
Although dredging is yet to begin, project authority says work is going on at a steady pace and the port will be functional by 2021. This is the first part of a two-part series exploring one of Bangladesh’s biggest construction endeavours
Initiative of building Bangladesh’s third sea port on 6,500 acres of land at Kalapara in Patuakhali is making steady progress, authotiries say, even though the construction of major components such as terminals and dredging is yet to begin.
The government has already completed the construction of some sections while some others are underway. Completion of those will enable the port to run general import and export activity in a limited range.
To build the Payra Deep-sea Port, authorities have acquired 2,300 acres of land out of 6,500 acres that is necessary. The project is the hope of the locals for employment and development; many locals are already working at the site
In addition, outside of the port area, three large coal-based power plants with 1300MW capacity each are also under construction. The sites for liquefied natural gas (LNG) and oil refinery have been started by the private entrepreneurs.
Since 2013, vehicles have been loading and unloading goods at the site. Currently only ship-to-ship loading and unloading is taking place. Authorities said, in the near future, this port will turn into a deep sea port with 14.5 meter draft at Rabnabad Channel with air port, cargo, coal, LNG terminal, two long jetties.
The Bangladesh government declared this project as one of the “10 Fast Track” projects being implemented by the government. This port will connect the rest of the country by water, road, rail and airway.
Completed components
The Dhaka Tribune has confirmed through a field visit that the Payra Port Authority (PPA) has already completed the construction of a warehouse that has the capacity to hold 100,000 ton goods.
A six storey administrative building is also under construction and mostly done. It has already been opened for official activity as a site office for the port.
Construction of a water purification plant is also complete. The function of this plant is to provide the port and adjacent area with safe drinking water. This three component construction is on 16 acres of land. An 80 meter long and 21 meter wide temporary jetty for service yard has also been set up and construction is going on in full swing.
Housing for the officials and staff of PPA is under construction on 32 acres of land just beside the administrative area. Most of the construction work here is complete as well. Some officials are already living there.
Construction of a four lane port connecting concrete roads with the national highway is currently in progress. Officials of the port are expecting the construction of this road will be completed in June this year. The general activity of the port may start after completion of this four lane road, according to officials.
Rehabilitation of the homeless people due to land acquisition for port construction is also underway. According to PPA, there are six rehabilitation clusters ongoing on 484.11 acres of acquired land, and it will accommodate at least 3,500 affected families. The authorities are expecting the rehabilitation will be complete next year.
What the massive port area will hold
The port area is expected to have the following constructions in the future: oil refinery, oil terminal, LNG import terminal, coal terminal, ro-ro terminal, trade car terminal, 600 meter long general cargo terminal, 400 meter sand and aggregate terminal, 200 meter grain terminal, 2 kilo meter long deep water container terminal, 2.5 kilo meter long container trans-shipment terminal, 44 meter offshore supply base, support craft harbour, fishing harbour, fabrication facility, dry dock, a 1320MW power plant, air port and free trade zone.
Progress of main project
An agreement has been signed between PPA and Netherlands based company Jan De Nul for dredging. By 2021, 75 kilometer long capital and maintenance dredging works is expected to be completed to facilitate up to 10.5 meter drafts of 40000 DWT bulk carriers.
The government has also approved first terminal construction project for Payra Port at a cost of Tk4,000 crore.
Another multipurpose terminal project at the cost of $600 million with the Indian line of credit is also in the process of approval. Consultancy agreement for the port master plan has been signed with Dutch company Royal Haskoning DHV and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet). A tender for the construction of coal terminal was also opened on Thursday.
Government initiatives
The government is taking initiatives to make a four lane highway from Faridpur to Kuakata, as well as a railway line from Padma Bridge to the Payra Port. Port authority wants the government to make the four lane road and railway line by 2021. That is also the expected completion time of the dredging of Rabnabad Channel and the first terminal.
Locals welcome Payra Port project
People of the locality say they welcome the construction of the port, although they had some hardship due to giving up a massive amount of land for the project.
Abu Sayed, a young man from Hasnapara of Kalapara upazila said: “In spite of losing land I think the port construction initiative is a wise decision for the greater development of the country. Our locality will be developed, we will get jobs here. The port authority is providing various training programs to make us eligible for the jobs.”
Abdul Haque Mridha, an inhabitant of Banati Bazar at Kalapara upazila said: “We are looking forward to our locality being developed. Already the price of land is quite high. Various private companies are working on the project; with that our people are finding work.”
Current port activity
The port is now open and earning revenue by loading and unloading goods. From 2013 to 2018, around 27 vehicles arrived at the port with 5 to 13.50 meter draft. Goods were transported by lighterage. The most transported goods are stone chips, cement clinkers, dredging materials, and plant machinery.
Dredging dilemma
Renowned German scientist HR Kudras in a conference last month said Payra Port would not be viable as a deep-sea port in the long run due to a huge amount of sedimentation.
He said tide from a powerful cyclone like Sidr can fill up the entire channel with silt within two hours. He suggested transferring the project to another more suitable place. Kudras also suggested dredging up to 15 meter of draft at the Rabnabad channel. PPA has not denied his point directly but is taking it into account as a challenge.
‘Port in full swing by 2021’
PPA Chairman Commodore M Jahangir Alam said: “Among the main projects, first terminal, coal power plant and dredging work will start at the middle of this year. By 2021 international ships will be able to come to the terminal directly. Rehabilitation will be completed at the middle or end of next year.
“Payra is a huge project; we cannot do all the work at once. That is why we are synchronizing projects so that we can start the port in full swing by 2021.”
“I hope the four lane highway and railways line from Padma bridge to port area will be completed by the concerned ministry by 2021. These are necessary for the operation of the port” he added.
Member (marine and harbour) of PPA Commodore Md Saidur Rahman said: “Sedimentation is a challenge but I do not totally agree with the German scientist. Dredging will be completed in 34 month. In the first 14 months the actual amount of siltation in the channel will be determined. Three observation posts (monopoles) at sea will be installed and two dredgers will be mobilized to observe tidal levels, current speed and direction, wind speed and direction, mining five dredging test pits and various types of engineering studies.
“Dredging alignment and sedimentation rates will be determined by observing all the above mentioned tasks and the best method for capital and maintenance dredging will be formulated accordingly.“
“For turning the port into a deep-sea port we have plans to dredge up to 14.5 meter in future” he added.
An independent expert gave the opinion that Kudras may not have the correct idea about the project.
Former vice chancellor of Brac University, water and river expert Dr Ainun Nishat said: “We never saw such sedimentation during several powerful cyclones in coastal areas. I think the government and the port authority are on the right track.”
Source: www.dhakatribune.com
