The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Cargo vessels owners yesterday called for intensive dredging of rivers saying that lack of navigability is disrupting transports of goods to various destinations across the country.

They said waterways in the country have now come down to 6,800 kilometres from 28,000 kilometres in 1971.

They pointed out that during the dry season the waterways stand at 3,800 kilometres and blamed lack of navigability and absence of any efforts for dredging for steady decline of waterways.

Nearly 80 per cent goods of the country are being carried by the waterways but the government is not paying any heed to facilitate the transport of goods. Carrying goods through waterways is 80 per cent cost effective than road transport, according to them.

Addressing a press conference at a city hotel President of Bangladesh Cargo Vessel Owners' Association K M Mahmoodur Rahman said most of the rivers in the country silted up due to lack of dredging for long.

Referring a study of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) he said at present the Government needs 85 dredgers for dredging 5 crore cubic metres of waterways. But in the last 10 years the government has not taken any initiative to import dredger although there were some proposals from the British and the Dutch governments to for supplying the same.

At present, the BIWTA has 7 old dredgers, Water Development Board 10 dredgers and the Chittagong Port Authority 1 dredger, which they use for their own purpose instead of dredging the rivers.

Rahman, also the president of Bangladesh Shipbuilders Association, urged the government to give the shipbuilding sector tax holiday facility and withdraw all kinds of tariffs on capital machinery import to help boost the sector.

The sector already got orders worth Tk 2,000 crore in from the ship importing countries.