Ship Recycling Board opens Ctg office tomorrow, easing approval process for yard owners
As the ship recycling industry is heavily concentrated in Sitakunda, authorities decided to establish the board’s office in Chattogram rather than continuing operations from the Ministry of Industries in Dhaka
Highlights
- Formed in 2018, the board remained inactive until officials were appointed this March
- Office set up on the 8th floor of the new BSTI building near Jamburi Field, Agrabad
- 29 types of ship import, dismantling, and yard permissions will now be processed here
- Ship-breaking yard owners will no longer need to travel to Dhaka for routine permissions
The Bangladesh Ship Recycling Board is set to open its first dedicated office in Chattogram on Sunday (14 December), a move expected to significantly ease administrative hassles for ship-breaking yard owners who have long been required to travel to Dhaka for routine approvals.
Formed in 2018 to regulate and develop the country's ship recycling industry, the board remained largely inactive for nearly seven years due to the absence of appointed officials. Operations gained momentum in March this year following the appointment of a director general and two deputy directors.
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As the ship recycling industry is heavily concentrated in Sitakunda, authorities decided to establish the board's office in Chattogram rather than continuing operations from the Ministry of Industries in Dhaka. Until now, board officials had been operating from a single room at the ministry.
Nearly ten months after becoming functional, the regulator is finally getting its own office in the port city. The new office has been set up on the eighth floor of the newly constructed Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) building near Jamburi Field in Agrabad. Around 18,000 square feet of space has been rented for the board's operations.
The office will be formally inaugurated on Sunday morning, with Industry Secretary Mohammad Obaidur Rahman attending as the chief guest, according to Ship Recycling Board Director General ASM Shafiul Alam Talukdar.
He said that once the office becomes fully operational, at least 29 types of licences, approvals and renewals covering ship import, dismantling and yard permissions will be processed directly from Chattogram.
"Previously, entrepreneurs had to rush to Dhaka for most of these approvals. That will no longer be necessary," he added.
