The government decided on January, 29 to privatise some of the key operations of Chittagong Port. The Ministry of Shipping (MoS) at a meeting took this decision to help reduce turnaround time of ships at the port and to provide efficient services to the port users.

Private trailer operation at the Chittagong Container Terminal (CCT), operational management of rubbertyred gantry cranes (RTG) and yards as well as ship planning are to be made by the private operating company. The steps were taken to ensure optimal use of space at Chittagong Container Terminal (CCT) through modern equipment and appropriate planning.

The CCT at the Chittagong Port is equipped with modern facilities including four railmounted gantry cranes and six rubbertyred gantry cranes. It has a capacity for storing around 8000 containers. But it failed to ensure its optimum utilisation due to the noncooperative role of labour organisations and the CPAs bureaucratic tangles pertaining to it.

Bangladesh Bank forfeits 70pc Oriental Bank shares

The Bangladesh Bank forfeited 70 per cent shares of the Oriental Bank Limited – half of these owned by the Orion Group chairman, Obaidul Karim, and his family under fake names, and the rest by four Hong Kongbased companies – according to sources in the central bank. A recent central bank investigation revealed that Obaidul and his family owned Oriental shares under fake names. The investigators were convinced that the shares owned by the Hong Kongbased companies also belonged to the Orion group chairman and his family.

According to banking regulations, any individual or members of a family can own a maximum of 10 per cent share of a bank. The central bank will soon decide what to do with the forfeited shares. It may put the shares in private placement or sell it through the Securities and Exchange Commission, the sources said.

It may be mentioned that the government on January, 25 ordered a sixmonth moratorium on the banking activities of Oriental, seeking to salvage the beleaguered private commercial bank and safeguard its depositors interest. According to the order, depositors of all categories are barred to debit more than Tk 10,000 per month from the bank during the moratorium period. The debit limit will not be applicable for accounts opened after January 25.

Any sort of legal action by any parties against Oriental for disbursement of funds or refund of collateral and deposited money has also been barred. The Bangladesh Bank plans to sell the bank as foreign and local buyers are showing interest in Oriental, as it is the last chance for them to own a private bank, a central bank source said.

If and when Oriental gets a new owner, the central bank will withdraw its administrator and hand over its operations to the new management.