Chemicals at Ctg port: A ticking bomb that may go off anytime

The customs authorities appear to have turned a deaf ear to repeated calls from Chattogram Port for removing dangerous chemicals that have now remained stuck at the port for up to 28 years.

The Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) fears that there are many chemicals that have almost become explosive and may go off anytime, leading to massive casualties like what the country just experienced in the Sitakunda depot fire.

The port authorities sent at least 32 letters to the customs over the past 10 years to either auction off or destroy around 47 tonnes of chemical products.

A risk always prevails at the port because of dangerous chemicals. Any disaster will taint Bangladesh's image in the international arena, which will eventually put a negative effect on exports, according to a letter sent from the port authorities to the Chattogram Customs on 7 June this year.

Noting that dangerous chemicals kept at storage sheds are occasionally catching fire, the letter referred to two such incidents. On 7 June, smoke billowed from a 20-year-old container that was being handed over to the customs for auction. In June 2020, a shed was burnt down in a fire that originated from stored chemicals.

As per the rules, if goods are not delivered within 30 days of arrival at the port of shipment, there is a provision to auction off or destroy them, but the customs authorities have not taken any such measures yet.

According to the latest letter forwarded to the customs, most containers of chemicals have remained at the port for 10-15 years. Chemicals in 60 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of boxes have already expired.

There are 445 tonnes of chemicals, such as hydrogen peroxide, sulphate compounds, sulfuric acid, thinners, hexanol, nitric acid, calcium oxide, sodium sulphate, methanol, chemicals of ethyl group, along with fire extinguishers, at the chemical shed of the port, according to the last update on 31 April this year.

Such dangerous chemicals have been stored inside the port for a long time, posing a serious risk to the environment, water, air and, above all, human life.

CPA Chairman Rear Admiral M Shahjahan said the goods handed over to the customs department for auction remained in the port, creating congestion and disruptions.

Hazardous goods and containers are hampering the normal functioning of the port as well as putting the port at risk, he also said.

"We had a meeting with the customs and owners of inland container depots about removing dangerous goods from the port. There are chemicals that are worth being auctioned and destroyable," said Shahjahan.

There are 14 containers holding chemicals that have now turned explosive, but legal tangles have got in the way of their release, he noted.

In this situation, they will apply to the court, seeking permission to dispose of the chemicals by keeping a small portion as court evidence.

The port chairman also said the government needs to send chemicals to the Lafargeholcim plant in Sunamganj for disposal as it does not have its own. 

Fakrul Islam, commissioner at the Chattogram Customs House, said, "We have now given an utmost priority to removing chemicals from the port as soon as possible."