The letter was sent following the mayor's announcement of movement to resist the government's plan to privatise the operation of under-construction New Mooring container terminal that is expected to go for operation in October this year.

"I think he [mayor] would be convinced and not raise any objection after getting the letter," Akbar Hossain told a press conference at PID conference room yesterday.

The main objective of our decision to privatise operation is to reduce the turn around time of the ships anchored at Chittagong port, he said, adding, "We want to reduce the turn around time to three days from existing five days."

The business community will be immensely benefited through reduction of the turn around time, as a ship has to spend $15,000 per day for staying at the port, he said.

"The whole aspects of the government's plan have been explained in the letter and I am ready to talk to him over telephone," the minister told journalists when asked what would be done if the mayor is not convinced by the letter.

The minister told the press that he had earlier called a meeting with the city corporation on the issue but the mayor left the meeting without discussion.

Addressing a press conference in Dhaka, Mohiuddin Chowdhury on Monday vowed to resist any attempt to privatise the Chittagong port. The Chittagong port is a key installation and the country's security and safety would be hampered if it goes to private operation, he observed.

Chowdhury termed the privatisation of services of the port as a violation of Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) Act.

The shipping minister, on the other hand, ruled out the "propaganda by a section of people" that the new terminal would be privatised.

"We want to appoint a competent firm through official tender to load and unload containers for a certain period," he said, adding that handing over the operating system would not change the ownership of the terminal.

The estimated cost for the New Mooring container terminal was Tk 737 crore and it has been reduced to Tk 400 crore as the private company would install the operating machinery, he added.

Akbar said the firm would be appointed on the basis of government's Supply Operate and Transfer (SOT) rule. The minister also expressed desire to appoint competent operators for accelerating the operation of gantry crane installed at both new and old terminals.

"The port operators would get proper training from the private operators," he said.

The conference was told that the newly installed gantry crane was not giving the maximum service due to lack of efficient operators. "The crane is handling only 11 containers Instead of 30 per hour."

The private operation would help to accelerate the speed of the costly crane through technology transfer, the minister observed.

Ruling out any misappropriation of money and property through the privatisation process, the miister said the operation period of the private company will be on the basis of their investment and machinery installation.

He also ruled out the apprehension of increasing handling charge by several times following the privatisation of services and said the CPA Act will not be violated as this type of arrangement is already operating in the port.

The Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) at an executive committee meeting yesterday expressed concern over the conflict between the government and city mayor over the operation of Chittagong port.

They urged the government to keep the operation of the Chittagong port smooth and remove all the bottlenecks at the port for easy handling of export and import items.

The BGMEA also urged the government to formulate a policy guideline for operating the newly built terminal.