Observation tower at port area by Dec

"We hope to commission the observation tower by the end of this year," Chittagong port Chief Engineer Shafayet Hossain Khan said. It will help monitor the movement of vessels and other water craft, he added.

Chittagong Port Authority has taken the Tk 60 lakh project to construct the tower building at the site of old light house, he said.

The tower will replace the old light house building which was damaged by the 1991 catastrophic cyclone, he said.

Sophisticated equipment will be installed after completion of the construction works of the tower building.

A senior official on condition of anonymity said that with the commissioning of observation tower, the incidents of piracy and smuggling at the port channel and the river Karnaphuli might be tracked and controlled.

The project for construction of the observation tower received the green signal after being shelved for a long time, port sources said.

A government agency raised the objection to set up the observation tower as the naval base is located nearby, the sources added.

The project gets go ahead because of its importance.

Chittagong port faces image problem abroad following frequent incidents of piracy and pilferage and terrorism in the port area.

Such an image problem prompted the CPA to plan for construction of an observation tower, port sources said.

Pirates attacked a good number of foreign cargo vessels and injured the crew on different occasions.

Even costly ropes of ships anchored at the port limit area were taken away putting the ship operators into an embarrassing situation, sources in the shipping circles said.

Ship operators hardly filed case with the police station here to avoid harassment of cumbersome procedure, the sources added.

Over 1500 cargo vessels call at Chittagong port annually.

Watchmen are required in every ship after arrival here for security reason.

Besides, the ships sometimes came under attacks of the gang of pirates.