The government has allocated 8.32 acres of land owned by the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) to the Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) for the construction of the Matarbari Deep Sea Port in Maheshkhali upazila of Cox’s Bazar.
The allocation was confirmed in a letter signed on 14 December by Senior Assistant Secretary Land Acquisition-2 Branch Ministry of Land Md Saiful Islam.
According to the letter, prior approval has been granted to transfer 8.3248 acres of land recorded under Diyara-2 of Dhalghata Mouza in Maheshkhali in favour of the Secretary of the Ministry of Shipping, in line with the Immovable Property Acquisition Manual.
Earlier, on October 5, Deputy Secretary Ministry of Water Resources Sujit Hawlader wrote to the Secretary of the Ministry of Land, recommending that the BWDB-owned land be allocated to the Chattogram Port Authority for the deep sea port project.
According to CPA sources, the port authority has already acquired 283.27 acres of land for the Matarbari Deep Sea Port project in Maheshkhali, and compensation has been paid to the affected landowners.
CPA Assistant Manager Estate Mohammad Shihab Uddin said the newly allocated 8.32 acres fall within the channel area of the deep sea port, where the basin is planned to be constructed.
An inter-ministerial committee was formed to resolve the ownership and allocation of the land, and based on the committee’s recommendations, the land has now been officially transferred to the port authority, he said.
He added that the Cox’s Bazar Deputy Commissioner will determine the valuation of the land at a later stage and, in line with government policy, the CPA will pay the assessed land value to the Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Land.
The Matarbari Deep Sea Port project is being implemented by Japan’s Penta Ocean Construction and Towa Corporation with financial support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
The total cost of the project is estimated at around Tk24000 crore, while works worth about Tk6200 crore are currently underway in the first phase.
The first phase includes the construction of a terminal with two jetties, pavements, retaining and sea walls, boundary walls, land development, dredging, land reclamation, terminal utilities, emergency generators, solar power systems and other ancillary facilities.
Under the agreement, a 460-metre-long container jetty and a 300-metre-long multi-purpose jetty will be constructed within four years, with the contract remaining valid until December 2029.
Once completed, the artificial channel, designed with a depth of 14.5 metres, will allow vessels carrying between 8,000 and 9,000 containers to berth at the port, which officials say will significantly reduce import costs and strengthen Bangladesh’s maritime trade capacity.
