Business leaders and officials across Bangladesh have emphasised the importance of maintaining safety compliance in all inland container terminals across the country, claiming that the disastrous fire at BM Container Depot in Sitakunda, Chattogram, is likely to harm the country’s export commerce. They blamed the fire on officials’ incompetence, claiming that basic norms and procedures for keeping chemicals in the container depot were not followed.
Business leaders have urged the government to immediately look into the safety measures in all other container depots of the country. National Board of Revenue officials have said that while the managements of the container depots are primarily responsible for employing adequate safety measures in their facilities the port authorities and the customs department are also responsible for monitoring the safety measures.
Experts have blamed the absence of a proper guideline on chemical management and the tendency of industry people to violate rules for the Sitakunda container depot inferno.
At least 43 people, including nine firefighters, perished as a fire in the depot on June 4 triggered a series of massive explosions, creating the inferno.
‘It is very unfortunate that readymade garments, machinery and chemicals were stored in the depot without maintaining any space between them. The negligence of the port authority was also responsible for the incident,’ Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez, president of the Bangladesh Chambers of Industries, said on Tuesday.
He urged the port authorities to formulate a guideline for all the inland container depots on how to store products in a warehouse.
All the depots should be immediately made safety-compliant, otherwise global buyers would feel insecure to do business through the Chattogram port, he said. ‘I would request the government to take necessary measures so that all the depots are compelled to comply with all the relevant national and international guidelines on storage and shipment,’ Parvez added.
