CCCI urges govt to install RT-PCR lab at Ctg airport

As UAE has made rapid PCR tests six hours before flying, mandatory, one lakh returning workers have yet to confirm their tickets to fly to the Gulf country

The Chattogram Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) has urged the government to install reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing facilities at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram as soon as possible.

"M Mahbubul Alam, president of CCCI, wrote a letter to Health Minister Zahid Maleque and State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism, M Mahbub Ali, on Sunday, to take necessary steps in this regard," reads a CCCI press release. 

Around 12 lakh Bangladeshi expatriates are working in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to an unofficial estimate. 

Of them, 75% are from greater Chattogram, the CCCI claimed.

Earlier, the UAE made it mandatory for returning migrant workers to get a rapid PCR test six hours before flying from a Bangladesh airport.

Consequent to the new UAE rules, almost one lakh expatriates have yet to confirm their tickets to fly to the Gulf country, adds the press release.

Earlier on Saturday, Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmed said at an event, that initiatives are underway for setting up RT-PCR labs at Chattogram airport for expatriates.

UAE-bound workers have started returning to their workplaces since 30 September on Dhaka-Dubai flights, following the Gulf country's approval of the RT- PCR labs set up at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.