AS bulk number of imported goods in 7000 containers remained abandoned in Chattogram Port, the Port has been facing space crisis for the last several days. Ineptness in container handling for last five years has made the present situation more critical. The Tk 10,000 crore worth goods left abandoned in the Port, for which government is deprived of getting Tk 7,000 crore taxes. The undelivered goods in the containers also mean its respective shipping agents are incurring losses as they no longer get rent for the containers from the importers. Apart from the loss in rent, the agents also had to bear the cost of dumping perishable goods and pay electricity bills to the Port Authority for the refrigerated containers.
More than a hundred types of goods including cosmetics, chemicals, plastics, automobiles, electronic goods, leather goods, construction materials, tiles and ceramics are among the unreleased goods. The Customs Law states that importers have to take delivery of goods within 30 days of those reaching the Port; defaulting on the timeline results in the Customs Authority starting the procedures to auction the goods. However, failure to hold a timely auction for the goods has also resulted in the loss of further revenues.
The Auction Department often fails to sell goods at reserved value on the first auction and then it needs to hold another auction. Because of the delay, many perishable goods spoil. In terms of a solution, Customs took an initiative to launch an e-tender programme to speed up the auction procedure in 2015, but it is yet to be implemented. If this was implemented, it would make the auction easier and attract participation of more bidders which might help reduce the number of undelivered containers.
Meanwhile, widespread corruption in releasing imported goods or booking goods for export is a matter of grave concern for businessmen. There is an allegation that it is impossible to move a file from one table to another table without paying bribe. Each and every step, the importers and exporters have to pay speed money either to officials of Port or Customs. The Chattogram Port Authorities must pay attention seriously to the allegations and solve the container jam problem in an urgent basis.
