PM asks VIPs to follow airport security rules
Inaugurates Tk 21,300cr construction of Dhaka airports 3rd Terminal
UNB, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday asked the VIPs of the country to follow the security rules at airports and warned that anyone flouting the regulations would face air travel restrictions in future. I want to say it clearly there are members of the parliament, ministers, chiefs of the services and other high officials here you have to follow the security measures at the airports of the country as is done in other countries airports, she said while inaugurating the construction work of the Third Terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in the capital.
She also inaugurated Biman Bangladesh Airlines two newly-inducted Dreamliner 787-9 named Sonar Tori and Awchin Pakhi as well as a new mobile application of the national flag carrier on the sidelines of the ceremony. Sheikh Hasina said everyone has to follow the security systems at the airports and none will be allowed to bypass it.
If anyone creates obstacles to following these security rules, then that person will be stopped [from flying]. At least Ill do that, you all have to remember that, she said. In this connection, she added, working for the country is all she is focused on. If anyone wants to indulge in any corruption or bypass any rule, then that information is passed on to me. Everyone has to remember that. We have given special importance to security at the airports, she noted.
She also asked all passengers to obey the security rules and regulations that are practiced internationally at the airports. The prime minister also asked the authorities concerned to take special care of the expatriates, who earn valuable foreign currencies for the country. We export manpower and earn huge amount of foreign currencies. We have to look after their (the expatriates) facilities. Make sure that they are not harassed at airports. Special attention has to be given to this, she pointed out.
Presided over by State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism M Mahbub Ali, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury and Senior Secretary to Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry Md. Mohibul Haque, Japanese Ambassador Naoki Ito, Chief Representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agencys (JICA) Bangladesh Office Hitoshi Hirata and Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Chairman Air Vice Marshal M Mofidur Rahman also spoke.
About various development programmes of the government to improve the Biman Bangladesh Airlines services, the prime minister viewed that it would not be wise to give everything to the private sector for the sake of improving the passenger services. We had invited the private sector in the aviation industry while we were in the power in 1996, but we will not put the whole sector on them. [If we do,] then there might be price difference in the morning and afternoon schedules even on the same day, she noted.
In this connection, she said the government has procured three more small planes from Canada to increase the market share of Biman in the domestic routes and these will be available within a very short time. Well try to bring more aircrafts with those three so that we can extend our services to all airports of the country. We are taking that initiative, she disclosed.
Earlier, Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the construction work of Tk 21,300 crore Third Terminal of the HSIA to significantly increase its passenger and cargo capacity. The government will provide Tk 5,000 crore of the construction cost while the remaining sum will be funded by the JICA. Mitsubishi and Fujita of Japan and Samsung of Korea were awarded the project to construct the terminal under a consortium.
The new international passenger terminal building is set to have a floor area of around 2.25 million square feet, whereas the exiting two terminals of the HSIA have space of around one million square feet together.
Expansion of the HSIA will increase the airports annual passenger handling capacity from the current eight millions to approximately 20 million, and the cargo capacity from 200,000 tonnes to 500,000 tonnes. Itll also be possible to monitor all operational work of the new terminal from a single control room. The project, with an estimated cost of Tk 13,610.47 crore, got the nod of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on October 24, 2017.
The cost of the project later rose subsequently due to expansion of some of the project work including setting up of separate export and import cargo houses and construction of new VVIP terminal. The projects additional fund was approved by the ECNEC on December 10 last. The construction work is expected to take 48 months.
The three-storey third terminal building, designed by Rohani Baharin of internationally renowned CPG Corporation (Private) Limited Singapore, will have a floor space of 2,30,000 square metres. Itll have 115 check-in counters, including 15 self-service, 66 departure immigration counters, including 10 automatic passport control counter, 59 arrival immigration desks, including five automatic check-in counter and 19 check-in arrival counters, while 16 arrival baggage belts will be set up. According to the project design, the third terminal will have 12 boarding bridges and conveyer belts each.
