Dhaka – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday opened Bangladesh’s third seaport in southern district of Patuakhali on the bank of the Bay of Bengal,

The premier inaugurated the delivery of goods from a commercial vessel at Payra Seaport, located nearly 200 kilometers south of capital Dhaka, through a video conferencing at her official Ganabhaban residence.

Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan was linked through the video conference at the newly constructed seaport.

Captain Md. Saydur Rahman, acting chairman of the port, said the first consignment delivered at the port was stone to be used for construction of the Padma Multi-purpose Bridge. The consignment was carried by MV Fortune Bird.

The construction of the Pyra Seaport was one of the priority projects of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government installed in 2009.

The port was constructed on an area of 16 acre of land at Tiakhali Union of Kalapara sub-district of Patuakhali. Its construction was begun on November 18, 2013 at a cost of Tk 1,128 crore.

The construction work is scheduled to be fully completed at the end of 2018. The chairman of the port told reporters that the authorities have been working relentlessly to construct modern jetties, container carrier, water treatment plant, customs station and security outposts.

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