182

corporation has a broader set of responsibilities than either of its predecessors. Replacing the
objective of profit maximisation, PoMCs Charter requires the corporation to facilitate
efficient transport chain management in the interests of economic growth for Victoria, and to
effectively manage relationships with port users and community stakeholders.

3.

Bangladesh

According to Frederick T. Temple, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh,

All three major ports - Chittagong, Mongla, and the river port of Dhaka-Narayanganj - suffer
from overstaffing, labor strikes, cumbersome customs procedures, out-dated and inefficient
work rules, and out-dated and inflexible management practices.. Private participation in the
sector is likely to be very limited until the labor force is restructured in line with realistic
operational requirements and until steps are taken to increase productivity.172 However,
progress in implementing institutional reform has not been smooth over the last five years. In
May 2002, for example, the ADBs attempts to support greater port authority autonomy and
private sector participation in port development and operations through a proposed Port
Efficiency and Access Improvement Project reached an impasse because of industrial disputes
among port workers. The ADB was not prepared to undertake the project until the
Government of Bangladesh had resolved the disputes.
Industrial disputes also hampered participation by private players Stevedoring
Services of America (SSA) in the development of a new Mooring Container Terminal at
Chittagong Port. The United States ports firm lost the final stage of a legal battle to set up a
private container terminal in Bangladesh in May 2003, when port workers' unions and local
politicians opposed the project because of fears that it would lead to massive layoffs, and
because the approval process was believed to be inadequately transparent.173
In July 2003 the ADB called for tenders to provide technical assistance to the
Chittagong Port Authority. The aim of the project is to facilitate trade through the port by
improving work practices and labour productivity. The tender acknowledges that while new
equipment will increase the capacity and efficiency of the port, desirable improvements will
require a change a work processes, especially with respect to ship berthing, and loading,
unloading and storage of cargo, and arrange of customs processing tasks.174

4.

Fiji

Through an ADB-funded project,175 the Government of Fiji is currently reviewing the

management structure and operations of the Fiji Port Authority as part of a staged approach to
privatisation. The broad aims of the review are to increase the productivity and
competitiveness of port management and cargo-handling operations.

172

Ministry of Shipping and Infrastructure Investment Facilitation Center (IIFC), August 2001,
Workshop on Private Investment Opportunities in Shipping Sector of Bangladesh to Raise Investor
Awareness, speech by Frederick T. Temple, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh.
173

Reported in BBC World Edition, Tuesday, 20 May, 2003, 10:09 GMT 11:09 UK,
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3040771.stm>.
174

Asian development Bank, TAR: BAN 36105, Technical Assistance (financed by the Japan
Special Fund) to the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh for Preparing the Chittagong Port Trade Facilitation
Project, July 2003.
175

TA No. 3199-FIJ: Port Asset Management Improvement,

<http://www.adb.org/Business/Opportunities/Catas/2002/fij.asp>, 1 October 2003.