Development of maritime activities in Bangladesh:

Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. It has achieved tremendous progress in agricultural sector but still finds it difficult to feed the nation. Apart from controlling the population through strict family planning, it has to educate and train the human resources to turn them into useful man-power. It has to diversify its economy.

One of possible avenues for diversifying the economy of Bangladesh is maritime sector. It is a small country with a vast coastline in the south. It is through the sea that we will find this new avenue of our economic success. The range of activities that fall within the domain of maritime world can be noted have as follows:

Ship-owning and operation; ship-management; ship-chartering; seafaring; ship-building; ship-financing and mortgage; shipbreaking; transhipment of goods; off-shore activities; and dispute resolution/ arbitration and litigation.

Ship-owning and operation:

In the days of the then Pakistan, despite having several private shipping companies, the government set-up a state owned National Shipping Corporation (NSC). It achieved tremendous success. Mr. Lee Kwan Yew, the then Prime Minister of Singapore was so impressed that he asked for technical help to develop something similar in his country. The services of Captain Saeed were loaned to Singapore. He later became the founder Chairman and Managing Director of the Neptune Orient Lines (NOL). It eventually became one of the largest shipping companies in the world which later took over the famous American President Line (APL). Late Capt. Saeed is still treated and honoured as father of Maritime Singapore.

Setting up the Marine Academy (the writer is also trained there) and then the NSC enabled us then to grasp the essential know-how of the shipping sector. That is why we could make a quick start in this sector immediately after the liberation. However, it faded away soon because of various other factors which will be discussed later.

There is no other business as international in nature as shipping. Government control and restrictions are impediment to the growth of shipping. We should make it open - open the register so that ships, not owned by Bangladeshis, can also be registered in Bangladesh. However such open register should be for a size over 15,000 GT so that smaller ships are genuinely owned by Bangladeshis to reap the benefit of domestic shipping and lighterage (carrying cargo by smaller vessels from a bigger vessel) trade. An open register (for over 15,000 GT) will open many new avenues. Economic activities will increase with increased employment.

The question comes - do we need to have state-owned Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC)? The answer is yes as well as no. If we allow it to operate as a business venture free of bureaucratic control, then certainly it can remain and flourish. Otherwise we should find some buyer and sell it off. The government legislation and infra-structure should be helpful for private shipping to grow.

Ship-management:

Shipping is not only international but also deeply legal and technical. This is why many ship-owners prefer their ships to be managed by management companies. The SOLAS-ISM requires a company to have the technical expertise and other resources to manage their ships in compliance with the code for safe operation and protection of the environment. This is all about regulatory aspect of shipping but some owners may even want business of the ship (marketing) to be handled by reputable company.

It is not surprising to find a company meeting both requirements. There are lots of ship-management companies located in Glasgow, Hong Kong, Cyprus and Singapore. With more shipping activities in Bangladesh, ship-management companies are bound to grow. They could eventually even manage foreign flag ships.

Ship-chartering:

There are different types of chartering. Bare-boat or demise charter involves taking over the ship (on long lease normally leading to sale) as virtual owner to manage and operate the ship (including employment of master and crew) for its own business. Bare-boat charterer may also register the ship in a Flag of his/ her choice (the original ownership registry remaining suspended for the relevant period) but cannot raise any capital through mortgage because these records remain tied-up with original register.

Time charter means hiring a vessel for a specific period (normally six months at a time) at an agreed rate (normally paid monthly) adjustable for completion of a voyage. In this charter the owner still maintains the master and the crew and ensures the operational efficiency of the vessel but the charterer finds business and employs the vessel accordingly.

Voyage charter is a contract for carriage of a cargo (normally bulk cargo) at a given rate. Charterer normally wins a contract to deliver certain quantity of cargo at a given rate and then hires ships for one-way operation. There is provision of despatch and demurrage depending on quicker service by the ship or inability of the consignee to accept delivery at the stipulated rate.

There are a lot of Bangladeshis who want to engage in ship chartering business but cannot do so because of exchange control restrictions. Bangladesh should remove all bureaucratic restrictions and allow its nationals to freely undertake ship chartering business. Such chartering business will not remain confined to national trade but will involve third nations as well.

Seafaring:

There was a time when thousands of Bangladeshis worked on foreign ships, earning a large amount of foreign exchange for the country. Over the years technology advanced and ship-owners looked for better trained seafarers. We lost the market because we did not keep pace of training with new development.

The other reason why we lost the market is because too many Bangladeshi seafarers jumped ships abroad causing huge loss/ damage to their employers. Our legal and administrative systems are also to be blamed. Seafarers' employment is regulated by an office known as the Government Shipping Office.

The term "shipping" means transportation of goods from one place to another. In this case the office deals with employment of seafarers. What a mockery of a name! This office should be rather known as "Directorate of Seafarers" and their role should be to oversee that the seafarers are employed in line with procedures outlined by the government. It must not deal with such employment directly. The government should set up a high powered committee to find reasons for decline in employment of Bangladeshi seafarers so that remedial measures can be taken to improve the situation. The Philippines does now have the highest number of seafarers around the world and we have to study their success story.

Shipbuilding:

It comes within the domain of the maritime activities but is a shore-based industry. The Ministry of Industries (and not the ministry of shipping) should look after its development and future growth where the shipping ministry should be involved as advising partner. The government should identify this as a thrust sector and provide best possible assistance.

The university course on Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering must include at least 6 months on the job training in shipyards (equally divided within design, mechanical and electrical sections) to make better engineers for the future. The marine engineering training must also include similar workshop training as specified in the STCW Convention.

Ship financing and mortgage:

The government should not impose any control or restrictions in ship financing. This applies both ways - I mean for Bangladeshi ships to get finance under mortgage (at home or abroad) and also to allow local banks and financial institutions to engage in similar business abroad. Bankers and lawyers should undertake appropriate training to engage in this business.

Shipbreaking:

Bangladesh does not have any iron ore. The industrial requirement of steel is largely met by a number of re-rolling mills which use imported scrap material. In this context, ship-breaking industry is vital for Bangladesh. It provides the essential link to national industrial and economic activities. The industry employs thousands of people and keeps many other industries operational.

This industry has nothing to do with the maritime administration. The sector should be regulated and overseen by the ministry of industries with the help of the department of environment. ILO safety guidelines and IMO/ UNEP environmental requirements must be complied with. The government should make a set of regulations transposing the requirements of the Hong Kong Convention.

Transhipment of goods:

We are not so lucky to have a strategic location like Singapore or Colombo to become a hub-point for transhipment. The global operators use those way-points for their global service and local and regional operators feed them with transhipment facilities. However, we can still make the best use of our location knowing very well that Nepal and Bhutan do not have access to sea.

Any transit agreement with India must include a clause to allow free access of goods to, and from, Nepal and Bhutan to Chittagong and Mongla for import/ export of cargo by sea. We should assist those two countries to make road and rail connection with our two sea-ports. If our port facilities are further developed, then we may be able to attract cargo to, and from, Assam (India) and nearby regions of China.

Offshore activities:

We have every right to facilitate doing of domestic trade. Our law must stipulate that goods and passengers from one point in Bangladesh to another point must only be carried by a national ship. Similarly those rigs, tugs and other support vessels engaged in business in Bangladesh waters must be registered in Bangladesh and for the period of operation in Bangladesh must be manned by Bangladeshis.

Dispute resolution/ Arbitration:

Bangladesh maritime law must provide for this provision. Bangladeshi lawyers must be trained and qualified to deal with these matters. They must develop a national arbitration society. Even for litigation in court we need well trained maritime lawyers. We cannot expect foreign investment in maritime sector unless there is rule of law and a community of well trained lawyers.

Other considerations:

Bangladesh needs comprehensive maritime legislation as a first step. Legislation is the foundation. We need well trained efficient administration to execute the provision of the legislation. We must have quality control by means of documented procedures, record-keeping and periodical review.

The Merchant Shipping Ordinance of 1983 is an obsolete legislation. We have to replace it by a law where essential elements of international conventions and protocols (such as UNCLOS-82, SOLAS-74, MARPOL-73/78, STCW-78, ITU Radio Regulations, ILO-MLC2006, registration, mortgage, Wreck, Salvage, Receiver of Wreck, CLC, Lien, Claim and arrest of ships, Fund and Limitation of Liability etc.) are reflected. The Department of Shipping should be renamed as the Department of Maritime Affairs and should be strengthened to a point that it can operate on its own without unnecessary references to the ministry. A department cannot work under another department.

The Chittagong and Mongla offices should be known as Maritime Affairs offices for survey and inspection. The government should appoint a high powered committee to look into the affairs of the maritime sector and take a long-term plan for its improvement. The future of Bangladesh is closely connected to this sector.

I conclude this article by congratulating the government for taking our case to ITLOS (International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea) in Hamburg for settlement of our dispute with India and Myanmar on limits of our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)/Continental Shelf.

Source: The Financial Express. Fazlur Chowdhury (fazlu.chowdhury@btinternet.com). 9 January 2012

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=93124&date=2012-01-09

Breaking ground in land of many faces:

A woman in Chittagong. Picture: James Muecke 

IT'S off the beaten track, but Bangladesh has rewards for the adventurous.

BANGLADESH, a land famed for its fiery curries, man-eating tigers and a cricket team that can beat England, is little frequented on the Aussie tourist trail. I was in the country for a week, at the invitation of Santos, to meet ophthalmology colleagues in the capital Dhaka, to explore the need for support from our blindness prevention organisation Sight For All. As my weekend at either end had been lost in transit, I took my break in the middle of the week and headed off on a short tour between working days.

I started my journey in Chittagong, Bangladesh's second largest city and a busy port on the Bay of Bengal that ships fabrics from its burgeoning garment industry all over the world. Chittagong is dusty, noisy and ugly with few redeeming features, but the hospitality of its people is renowned. Despite the large population, the atmosphere is not desperately polluted - Bangladesh has the world's cheapest gas and so most vehicles run on compressed natural gas. Even the ubiquitous green 3-wheel "baby taxis" are known endearingly as CNGs.

Perhaps Chittagong's most interesting attraction is the infamous shipbreaking yards, home to a highly controversial industry where enormous vessels are dismantled along the beaches to the north of the city. The precinct is now off-limits to tourists due to recent bad press - environmental degradation, child labor, atrocious wages, and an appalling safety record. The "breakers" have a working life of only a dozen or so years, usually returning to their villages in the impoverished northwest of the country crippled, blind or with the threat of incurable asbestosis.

The steel from the hulls is melted down, rolled and recycled, providing the country with much of this vital commodity, however objects from the decks, such as beacons, lifebuoys, and anchors are sold along the frantic highway that skirts this notorious stretch of coastline. The ships' fluorescent orange life rafts, hailing from faraway ports such as Monrovia or Panama, are commandeered by local fishermen.

From Chittagong I travelled to the remote Bandarban region of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, in the rugged green highlands close to the border with Burma. It's a lush and densely forested area of great natural beauty, home to 11 different ethnic groups. The 3-hour drive follows narrow dusty roads and passes through sleepy picturesque villages fringed by golden-green rice paddies waiting to be harvested. The roads are home to the usual mix of death-defying villagers, heavily laden wooden carts, brightly decorated rickshaws, painted trucks laden with bricks, buses spewing thick black exhaust, maniacal minibuses overflowing with humans and their cargo, and suicidal goats, all vying for control of the one and half lanes available. The zippy 3-wheeler CNGs seem to occupy all remaining space, whilst the route is narrowed even further by piles of unprocessed tobacco waiting to be collected. Sheaths of unthreshed rice and bundles of hay are also spread out to dry on the warm asphalt but are no obstacle for the vehicles, which drive over them.

I stayed at the friendly but basic Hillside Resort, perched high above a verdant valley, the Sangu River meandering gently past way below, a patchwork of fields lining each bank. Plumes of smoke rise from the tall chimneys of brick kilns that punctuate the slopes on the adjacent side, mist clinging to the hazy grey mountains beyond. I appeared to be the only foreigner at the resort (if not the only tourist), the extreme heat, the threat of monsoonal rains and recent security concerns with insurgent gangs all contributing to its isolation. What was I doing here?

The region is predominantly Muslim, however, there are clear elements of various other faiths - Hindu women in brightly coloured saris and Buddhist monks in saffron robes, as well as the indigenous hill tribes in their traditional dress, one of the major tourism draw cards of the area. The tribes around Bandarban are predominantly Christian, often with 4 different sects and as many churches in one small village. Amazingly, they all seem to live together in harmony and the former troubles appear to be political rather than religious. I was relieved to read that tourists had never been kidnapped or targeted in the attacks.

I took a short tour to the Golden Pagoda, one of Bangladesh's Buddhist pilgrimage sites, but it is a relatively new and not particularly inspiring painted concrete edifice. More to my liking was the relaxing punt along the Sangu as it wrapped around the township on its way to the temple. Local women bathed and washed clothes in the late afternoon sun while their children and dogs played in the murky waters and men cast for fish or mended nets on the slippery banks. Other groups of women collected edible snails buried in the mud below the river's edge, their heads bobbing just above the surface as they maneuvered along in their quest. After this introductory sojourn, a welcome cup of black tea was enjoyed on the resort's deep balcony. A cool breeze blew away the stifling heat and humidity of the day, the clouds black, heavy and threatening to burst at any moment.

The following morning I set out with my guide Nelson on a 6-hour trek through the local countryside. Nelson was an exceedingly cheerful young man, a Presbyterian from the Mru tribe, and was a delightful companion on the gruelling hike. He dropped out of high school in year eight and now earns just over a dollar for each 15-hour day, in return for his good humour and navigational skills. Needless to say he was delighted with a tip that was well over his usual monthly wage.

The route, along pot-holed roads, shallow creek beds and sometimes-treacherous muddy tracks, passed alternately through dense jungle, rice paddies, banana plantations and gardens of papaya, mango, jackfruit and pineapple, between villages of the Tripura, Mru, and Bawm minorities. There was little to distinguish communities of the differing tribes, the villages all reassuringly pristine, with tidy huts of woven banana leaf elevated on bamboo stilts, sheltering hay and firewood, and contented hens in hanging baskets. Piglets scampered between the dwellings, assorted ducks waddled casually past, and mongrel dogs attempted half-hearted growls as we entered each village. Young girls collected water from the communal springs, weather-beaten old men, recumbent in the shade of their eaves, plaited baskets from fine slivers of split bamboo, and the elder women looked after cheeky grandchildren while their parents worked the surrounding steep slopes.

The hill tribe communities are exceedingly poor, subsistence farming the daily ritual for most. Slim earnings are made from cutting bamboo, harvesting fruit or fermenting rice wine that they sell at the weekly markets. One old woman with a fever could not even afford the small fee to travel to a doctor whose services were free.

The heat of the day was suffocating, the humidity held prisoner below densely overcast skies - it's little wonder that this is not trekking season. Sweat quite literally cascaded off my face and upper body. Any attempt at rest was met with a cloud of malaria-bearing mosquitoes.

The rewarding fascination of the trek far outweighed the discomforts, yet it was an immense relief when the sky turned black, as if someone had flicked a great switch in the sky. A revitalising cool breeze heralded a torrential downpour just as we set foot back in the resort. I ate my curry dinner in darkness as the resort was held hostage to a power blackout. I fell asleep to the clatter of rain beating down on the corrugated tin roof.

I was woken the next morning by the muezzin's "call to prayer" drifting up from a distant mosque. I wasn't at all keen to wake at 4am but it was already becoming light and so I lay peacefully under my mosquito net and listened to the extraordinary symphony emanating from the jungle's teeming bird and insect life.

After a tasty breakfast of vegetable masala and flaky paratha, we rattled by jeep across the face of the hills to the town of Rangamati and its infamous lake, an intoxicating 3-hour rollercoaster drive away. The incredibly scenic Kaptai Lake was formed by the damming of the Kaptai River in the early 1960s, and in the process displacing 100,000 of the indigenous inhabitants, many of whom are still refugees in India. After leaving the various police and military checkpoints behind, the approach to the lake was mesmerising. The water has insinuated itself between the multitude of peaks to form a collection of jagged inlets, narrow peninsulas and irregular islands.

I took a leisurely boat ride, enjoying the light and colours of the lake. The Kaptai was supremely tranquil, despite the constant hammering of the wooden boat's diesel engine. A little too tranquil perhaps? I soon realised that the vast and complex series of lakes were all but deserted, a rarity on the bustling waterways of industrious Asia. There were only a few lone sailors in dugouts collecting driftwood caught among the water hyacinths. It transpired that the lake was off limits to fishing for 3 months to help replenish its dwindling bounty. Not a good evening to sample the fresh fish curry I had been craving.

Another night in the remote Chittagong Hills, another night in a lonely hotel, another vegetable curry, another blackout. I was ready to return to the chaos and charisma of Dhaka.

Source: Adelaide Now. By: James Muecke. 5 November 2011

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ipad/breaking-new-ground-in-land-of-many-faces/story-fn3o6wog-1226185576549

77pc vulnerable to toxic chemicals, waste:

Almost 77% people of Bangladesh are exposed to different toxic chemicals and waste that pose health threat, experts said at a workshop yesterday.

They said every year huge amount of hazardous and electronic wastes is generated with the use of technologies increasing, but the government is yet to formulate any policy and guidelines regarding those.

Environment and Social Development Organisation (ESDO), a non-government research and advocacy organisation, arranged the workshop titled “Toxic Chemicals Pollution in Bangladesh: Use and Management” at its office in the city. ESDO chairperson Sayed Marghub Murshed chaired the programme.

According to a recent study of ESDO presented at the workshop, more than 2.8 million tonnes of electronic and hazardous waste, including toxic stuff produced at shipbreaking yards, is generated in Bangladesh.

The IT sector has generated approximately 35,000 tonnes of e-waste in Bangladesh in the last 10 years, the study report says, while around 5,985,000 sets of televisions become scraps generating approximately 88,357 tonnes of e-waste annually. Shipbreaking yards waste amounts to approximately 2.5 million tonnes per year, it adds.

The speakers said lead and mercury and some variety of pesticides have hazardous impacts on physical and mental functions of human being, including organ damages. Especially the children and elderly people are more vulnerable to those, they added.

Indiscriminate use of toxic chemicals has already affected the ecosystem and biodiversity of Bangladesh adversely, they said, urging the government to take necessary measures for the sake of a healthy environment.

ESDO executive director Siddika Sultana; director Golam Qadir; Dr Shakil Akter, teacher, Bangladesh Medical Collage; Akter Mahal Gulfam; Anamul Haque of North South University; and Harun-ur-Rashid,teacher, Jahangirnagar University; also spoke at the workshop.

Source: The Daily Star. 25 October 2011

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=207837