Govt tactical in implementing transit
• Road transit between Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan may be from January
• Water transit till Ashuganj, then land transit to Agartala
• Tk 47,000cr required for infrastructural development
• Separate transit would make it more complex: Mojibur Rahman, former chief of core committee on transit.
Comprehensive transit through road, water and railways between Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan is not going to be implemented at once. This is to be implemented in different phases after the agreement is signed. Land transit is to be implemented now.
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal had signed a framework agreement five years ago, paving the way for a three-way transit. But the government is now prevaricating and taking a more strategic stance.
Former chief of the core committee on transit Mojibur Rahman told Prothom Alo that implementing transit in different phases would not be right. It would make things difficult.
Besides, it was to be decided who would make huge investment in infrastructural development for transit at the different phases, as well as for maintenance. Experts said that Bangladesh cannot afford sole investment.
The countries have signed a Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) among the four South Asian neighbours. The MVA agreement between sub-grouping of four SAARC nations, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal is known as BBIN.
Two neighbouring countries, Bangladesh and India, on 6 June signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for transport of goods to north-eastern states of India using Bangladesh seaports of Chittagong and Mongla.
Lack of coordination seems to be a big problem for Bangladesh in providing transit to India.
The commerce ministry of Bangladesh was supposed to be responsible for the entire coordination of providing transit. But right now, no ministry is accountable for coordinating the process as the transit is being provided to India through various processes and agreements. Several ministries are now looking after transit-related issues.
Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) researcher Mohammad Yunus told Prothom Alo that transit implementation remains vague as several ministries are now working with several agreements.
An overall transit implementation system could ease and smooth the entire procedure, he added.
Another problem of transit implementation is infrastructure. Over the last five years, there has been no new road construction, investment or development of land port.
Former Tariff Commission chairman Mujibur Rahman told Prothom Alo that transport of goods is closely related with transit implementation.
Therefore, providing transit without institutional development will create problems, he added.
Mujibur Rahman also said, different ministries have to be visited if any conflict comes up. There are not enough experts in the ministries related to transit, so who will solve the problems? He advised that this kind of transit should be done in a coordinated way. A total of 8 to 10 protocols would have been enough including road, rail, shipping duty, and security.
The first official talks for transit to India, Nepal and Bhutan started in 2011. A core committee led by the Tariff Commission submitted a report to the Commerce Ministry after verifying the possibility of transit, route, duty, and investment. This was the first government level report on transit. However, the Commerce Ministry failed to take any steps regarding the report.
On 20 November 2011, the Prime Minister’s Economic Affairs Adviser Mashiur Rahman presided over another meeting of the special committee regarding the sub-regional assistance with India, Nepal, and Bhutan. The meeting advised sending the transit related report of the Tariff Commission to the PM office for review. It was sent, but nothing has been heard of it since.
Weak Infrastructure: Infrastructure development of the ports is most important, said concerned persons. Benapole port of Jessore, Akhaura of B’baria, Burimari of Lalmonirhat and Banglabandha of Panchagarh, will be land ports used most for the transit between Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Bhutan. Among the ports, the infrastructure of Benapole is good. Other three are in poor condition. None of the ports has branches of any banks except Benapole. The conditions of the roads connecting the ports with the district towns are also in poor condition.
The activities of Akhaura port are all the same despite Standard Procedure (SOP) or international standards being introduced last year. SOP system is almost like using a green channel. The good laden trucks will get the advantage of quickly crossing the border. However, the port lacks weight machines, sufficient manpower, and adequate infrastructure. The 22 km road connecting Akhaura with the B’baria town is damaged and unfit for the vehicles.
Tamabil land port lacks infrastructure to complete official formalities. Customs work is carried out in a tin shed. The customs procedure has to done in Banglabandha everyday, which is 50 kilometers away from Panchagarh town. The road of Burimari land port is also in poor condition. The infrastructure of the port is also weak.
How much money is needed: According to the report of the Tariff Commission around Tk 48,000 crore is needed in 10 years for the transit related infrastructure development. Among those, investment of Tk 29,223 crore is needed only for the development of the rail route. Investment of almost Tk 11,942 crore is needed for the development of the roads. Meanwhile, Tk 201 crore is needed for the development of the land ports. In addition, investment is needed for dredging and to maintain night movement on the shipping route. Tk 1,161 crore is needed for this.
Giving importance on the use of Chittagong and Mongla ports for the transit facility, investment of Tk 4,507 crore is needed to improve the capacity and to develop the traffic system of the two ports.
Tk 1,709 core has been estimated as the cost of increasing the capacity of good fluctuation in Chittagong port. On the other hand, Tk 2,798 crore is needed for dredging and infrastructure development of Mongla port.
Asked how the investment will be done, Executive Director of Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Mostafizur Rahman said Bangladesh has to build the infrastructure on its own side. It will be difficult for Bangladesh to build the infrastructure with own funds. That is why Indian Line of Credit (LOC), and easy loans from the World Bank, Asia Development Bank (ADB), and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) should be used for the development work.