The land acquisition complexity of the much-coveted Chattgram Port Bay Terminal construction project has been resolved. The land ministry has approved the acquisition of 803 acres of khas land (Government owned fallow land) proposed for the project. On 22 June, in a letter signed by Md. Asaduzzaman, the Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Land Acquisition-2, directed the Deputy Commissioner of Chattogram to hand over the 803-acre land to the secretary of the shipping ministry under the State Acquisition and Tenancy Act. This has put an end to the complexity of the Bay Terminal construction project.
Chattogram port had bought 68 acres of land for the Bay Terminal using its own funds. The Central Land Allocation Committee was stuck with the acquisition of 803 acres of khas land proposed for the Bay Terminal. The port authority has taken another step towards the implementation of the project by approving a total of 803.17 acres of land, including 0.79 acres of privately owned land.
In the second stage of the acquisition process, the district administration will determine the value of the land subject to the existing infrastructure under section 7 of the land acquisition law. Section 8 will issue a notice to the port to pay the final fixed price of the survey conducted by various agencies including the Ministry of Housing and Public Works. The port will have to pay the nominal price within 120 days. Then, within 7 days of receiving the money, the land owners will relocate themself. Chattogram district administration will hand over the land to the port starting the construction of Bay Terminal.
According to the plan, one of the three terminals will be built by Chattogram Port Authority alone and the other two on Build-Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis, which will be launched by 2026.
Chattogram Port Secretary Mr. Mohammad Omar Faruk said, “The work of the Bay Terminal project has been taken up by the port authority long ago. The port had bought 68 acres of land with its own funds. Now the letter from the land ministry shows new hope for the Bay Terminal project.”
