Govt resolute to raise navigability of rivers, says junior minister

The government is working to increase the navigability of the river channels and expand sustainable river dredging to bring dynamism in the economic activities of the country.

To this end, the capacity of Mongla port has already been enhanced like that of the Chittagong Seaport, by raising drafts through digging the respective channels.

State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury made the remarks at a webinar titled ‘Sustainable River Dredging: Challenges and Remedies’ organised by the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), on Saturday.

The state minister said the government is working relentlessly to bring back the navigability of the rivers across the country.

To this end, the government is working to procure 35 more dredgers and putting emphasis on river management.

He added that a number of incentives have been announced to help the private sector during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Taking the success of the power sector as an example, he said the government is taking timely and effective initiatives to improve river dredging and river management.

In his welcome address, Rizwan Rahman, President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), said rivers have been serving greatly to economic activities of Bangladesh since ancient times. River transportation makes various goods available at affordable prices, he said.

However, our economy is now being deprived of that benefit due to the narrowing of river channels for a number of reasons, including the low depth due to continuous siltation.

Under such a reality, sustainable river dredging and management is very important to bring back the navigability of the rivers to accelerate Bangladesh’s socio-economic development, the DCCI President added.

He proposed increasing allocation in the national budget for the sustainable river dredging, cutting import duty, VAT and advance taxes on import of capital machinery used in dredging activities and incorporating such development works under the government’s fast-track planning.

Speaking as the special guest, Md. Shafiul Islam (Mohiuddin), former President of FBCCI and Member of Parliament, said it is imperative to increase coordination among all the government agencies before digging a riverbed.

He said the recent imposition of various tariffs by the government on the import of dredging machinery has been seen as a dis-incentive by the private sector.

In this context, he called for creating equal opportunities for both domestic and foreign entrepreneurs.