The Matarbari Union is located in Maheshkhali upazila of Cox’s Bazar, beside the Bay of Bengal. The people of this area were in very much hardship a few years ago. However, due to its strategic position, the government has taken some important project centering Matarbari. A few of these projects has been in operation after the completion of construction phase. Some of the projects are about to be completed, while the work of some others are going on. Matarbari of Maheshkhali is very important place to China and Japan due to its geopolitical and economic reasons. The projects works centering Maheshkhali will provide facilities even to the ‘Seven Sisters’ of neighboring India. According to the experts, it will play a major role in the economy of South Asia. They think Matarbari has been becoming a game changer in the economy of country gradually.
Those concerned say that commercial hub is going to be built around Matarbari deep sea port. Electricity from the 120 MW Matarbari coal-based power plant and gas supplied to the national grid from the floating LNG terminal at Maheshkhali are making important contributions to the power-fuel sector. Along with this, the Deep Sea Installation of Single Point Mooring (SPM) with Double Pipeline project has been completed and is now in the commissioning stage. The entire region has turned into a huge power hub. Once the construction of Matarbari Terminal, the country's first deep sea port, is completed in 2026, the businessmen of the country will get the opportunity to directly transport goods to various countries including Europe, America without transit suffering.
Projects in Matarbari: Among the various important projects in Maheshkhali and Matarbari areas, there is Matarbari 1200 megawatt ultra-super critical coal-based power plant. Maheshkhali already has two floating LNG terminals. One of these is Accelerate Energy, an American company. Another local company is Summit Group. There are plans to build two more LNG terminals here in the future. Apart from this, SPM project has been established in the sea on the western side of Maheshkhali Island. There oil will be pumped directly from the vessel, which will reach the land terminal at Matarbari through an offshore pipeline via SPM. Later from there it will be preserved in the storage tank to be built in Maheshkhali area through onshore pipeline. Matarbari Terminal, the country's first deep sea port, is going to start construction in the middle of this year. It is expected that its work will be completed by 2026.
Second unit of the power plant will go into production in June: The commercial production of the second unit of the Matarbari 1200 MW coal-based power plant will begin next June. Currently it is generating experimental power. Commercial production of the first unit of the two-unit power plant, built with Japanese financial assistance, started on December 26 last year. And from December 24, the experimental power generation of the second unit started. The physical progress of the project so far is 86 percent and the financial progress is 81 percent. It is the country's largest coal-based power plant under 100 percent government ownership. It is implemented by the government organization Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited (CPGCBL). 1, 608 acres of land was acquired for the construction of the power plant. It is being constructed at a cost of Tk 51,854 crore with the assistance of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Of this, JICA provided loan is Tk 43, 921 crore. The remaining amount is provided by CPGCBL from its own fund.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the power plant on November 11 last year. Engineer Abul Kalam Azad, Managing Director of CPGCBL, told Bangladesh Pratidin on Monday, “The second unit of the power plant is currently producing experimental power at different loads. It will go into commercial production only after this test phase is over. We have produced maximum power of 600 MW in experimental production. The second unit is expected to start commercial production in June. Among the coal-based power plants in the country, Matarbari power plant from Payra and Rampal has the lowest power generation cost per unit. In other centers, the cost per unit is more than 10 taka, but in Matarbari, the cost is 8 taka. Currently coal is being imported from Indonesia for the plant. On June 16, 2014, a loan agreement was signed between the Government of Bangladesh and JICA for the construction of the power plant.”
The project officials said as part of the long-term plan, two power plants projects of 600 MW capacity of four units were taken in Matarbari. In that consideration, along with acquisition of additional land, other works including construction of boundary wall, building and coal import jetty have been completed. In the second project, an additional 1,200 megawatts of electricity can be produced only if the equipment of the power plant is installed. It is possible to produce 2, 400 megawatts of electricity at one place
The Minister of State for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid told The Bangladesh Pratidin, “The massive work going on at the Matarbari Power Plant in Maheshkhali will make this area like Hong Kong in the future. On the one hand, as the communication system is being developed here, many employment opportunities have been created for the local residents due to this huge expansion. And housing facilities has also been arranged for the local residents whose land was acquired for the project.”
Construction work of the deep sea port terminal to start this year: The construction work of Matarbari terminal, the first deep sea port of the country, is going to start in the middle of this year, which is scheduled to be completed by 2026. If the deep sea port is opened, it will save money as well as time. At the same time, the government has planned to create a commercial and energy hub around the deep sea port. If its implemented, it will change the economic scenario of the whole country. Chittagong Port Secretary Omar Farooq told The Bangladesh Pratidin, "We have set a target to start the construction of the deep sea port terminal in June or July. We will start the construction work soon after completing the tender process. We are working towards that goal.''
He said, “Matarbari deep sea port will play an important role in the country's economy, as well as increase the country's GDP and reserves. Foreign exchange income will also increase due to the use of this port by neighboring countries.”
It is known that, as part of the construction work of Matarbari terminal, a proposal for the purchase of cargo handling equipment, security system under package-2 has been sent to the Ministry of Shipping. Under package-2B, technical evaluation of Tug boats, survey boats, pilot boats and VTMS has been sent to JICA for getting no-objection certificate. The second phase of the project has been sent to the Ministry for approval of a consultancy firm for feasibility study.
Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the channel along with laying the foundation stone for the construction of the first terminal of the deep sea port last November. The country's first deep sea port will have a 300m long multipurpose jetty, a 460m long container ship berthing jetty. A port channel 14.3 km long and 250 meters wide, 18.5 meters (MSL) deep has already been constructed. 1,753 meters of north breakwater, 713 meters of south breakwater and 1,802.85 meters of revetment on the north side have been constructed to make the channel and harbor safe and secure. About 28 km long road is being constructed to connect the deep sea port with the national highway. The government has plans to create a commercial hub at Matarbari in Maheshkhali based on a deep sea port. As part of the plan, new investments are being brought in various sectors including improved communication, power supply, and tourism in the region. Establishment of oil refinery, energy and food storage, tourism, embankment and waterfront economic zone is underway to make Matarbari an 'Industrial Hub'. Cox's Bazar Airport is being converted into an international airport to improve domestic and abroad communication with Matarbari.
The expansion project is expected to be completed this year: Chittagong-Cox's Bazar railway line has been constructed to further improve the communication system with the tourist town and Matarbari deep sea port. Since Bangladesh does not have a deep sea port, it has to use Singapore, Sri Lanka's Colombo or Malaysia's Kelang port to export products to Europe and America. 30 percent additional transportation cost is incurred due to export of goods through third countries. An additional 10 to 15 days is also nneded. Initiatives were taken to build a deep sea port at Matarbari in Maheshkhali to speed up the import and export of the country. The initial cost of this project is estimated at 17, 807 crores.
