BSS, DHAKA:

State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury today said that the present government will increase the number of dredgers to make waterways and ports more navigable.

“During the tenure of the present Awami League-led government, 38 new dredgers have been added to the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), increasing it to 45. The process of collecting 35 more dredgers is underway,” he said.

The state minister said these while speaking at a workshop on the Mongla-Ghasiakhali Canal Upgrading Project-Conceptual Study’ organized by BIWTA and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) at BIWTA Bhaban in the city’s Motijheel area as the chief guest, according to a press release.

There is no shortage of dredgers for digging waterways, as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina-led government has taken proper initiatives to this end, he said.

“There are about 200 dredgers in the government and private sectors,” he added.

He said Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman procured seven dredgers in 1975 to maintain the navigability of waterways.

After that, no governments or heads of state, except the Awami League-led government, procured any dredgers, Khalid added.

With BIWTA Chairman Commodore Arif Ahmed Mustafa in the chair, the seminar was addressed, among others, by Shipping Ministry Senior Secretary Md Mostafa Kamal, BIWTC Member (Engineering) Mohammad Monowar Uz Zaman, and Institute of Water Modeling and director Rubayat Alam.