Dhaka: Bangladesh on Monday scrapped a plan to build a new deep water port in the Bay of Bengal following a successful drive against corrupt officials and trade unions at the existing Chittagong port, officials said.
"The efficiency increased manifold" since January, said M.A. Latif, acting president of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
"We have decided not to go ahead with the deep seaport plan at this stage, as the efficiency of Chittagong port has increased remarkably over the past six months," said M.A. Matin, shipping minister in the interim government.
Officials said delays in a feasibility plan for the new $720 million port also contributed to its cancellation.
The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) drew up plans for the new port off the coast of Kutubdia, 65 km (40 miles) south of Chittagong port.
Officials said the new port would have provided a regional hub for Nepal, Bhutan, southern China, Myanmar and northeastern India, raised annual container handling capacity 3.0 million teu and boosted bulk cargo handling capacity to 100 million tons. [31/07/07]
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