Regarding the fire at the container depot at Sitakunda in Chattogram, State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury said, ‘Those who run the depot are being extremely neglectful.’ He said this to the media during a discussion on Sunday (5 June) at noon.
Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury said that a three-member investigation committee has been formed by the port on the Sitakunda fire incident. They have been asked to report within the next 3 days. Port Authority has been asked to report to us. After receiving that investigation report, we will discuss whether a high-level investigation committee consisting of NBR and the Ministry of Shipping can be formed.
I personally think that the inclusion of NBR in this inquiry committee is more important. We only handle the products which pass through here. The declaration has to be given to the customs; that I am bringing or sending such products. And we find out about it later.
He added that the goods which are considered dangerous need to be declared. If it is declared, there is a need to take separate measures. These include ensuring whether there are private container depots that have the necessary preparations and manpower. If everything was in order, why didn’t they work? Of course, these are supposed to be in place, otherwise, they would not have got approval. So why didn’t they work? Why were there so many casualties? These will be answered by our investigation.
At the moment it is not possible to say exactly what happened here, or who is responsible. The State Minister for Shipping said that after receiving the investigation report, we will take action.
The port authority does not notice what kind of goods are kept in the private container depot. Customs look after it; what is coming, and what is going. The port authority and customs are working together. There is a monitoring committee here. The 11-member monitoring committee includes customs, business, and C&F representatives who do the monitoring. They monitor whether the rules and regulations for managing private container depots are being followed. Whether that monitoring has been done properly will also come out in the investigation, said the State Minister.
