Why a new airport?  We already have the name of an airport that is still in a "pre-liquid" stage. But that is not our concern. Nobody should have any quarrel with the idea of having important iconic structures named after iconic figures, certainly not with the idea of having it named after the Father of the Nation. But some irreconcilable critics ask whether it is to have an airport named after Bangabandhu that a new airport is being built or the other way round? But that is not the issue. One doesn't either have a particular preference for the area proposed for the site of the new airport. That is not the problem either. Anywhere, where an airport can be built and which meets our future requirement should do. It doesn't matter whether that is in Gopalganj or Chagalnayaa, or Rangpur or Dhaka Dakhhin, or in Dublar Char. However, the only concern one has at this particular moment with the proposal is the very idea of a new airport as well as the recommended site. In this context one couldn't have been more pleasantly surprised by the rapidity with which this project has moved since its conceptualisation in 2009. One should have no quarrel with the issue if the idea has stemmed from objective study and not from political considerations. Unfortunately, as things have emerged, one cannot be faulted for seeing it as the brainchild of partisan thinking, more so by the manner the issue has been handled. When it takes years to complete feasibility study of much smaller projects in terms of size and financial outlay, this takes the cake. The idea came to public knowledge sometime early 2010, and in August the same year a pre-feasibility study by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism sought approval of the cabinet committee on economic affairs to implement the project that was estimated to cost Tk.50,000 crore. The committee had also visited seven sites in Gazipur, Tangail, and Mymensingh districts, and selected three among those. But the site was changed shortly thereafter. We are not sure why. But the rationale proffered by the government for the project as being of "an urgent necessity," and the speed with which it has moved (reportedly, land acquisition has already started) and the change of proposed site, have raised serious doubts about the inspiration behind the idea. The pre-feasibility study report making a case for it says that about 80% of the air passengers use Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSJIA). Mentioning passenger handling capacity in percentage terms is quite crafty. Without having an idea of the actual number of passengers that use the airport now it means nothing. The second logic -- the airport has only one runway and its annual passenger handling capacity is 80 lakh, which is inadequate compared to increasing number of passengers. The statement is unclear. What will be the actual number of the "increasing number of passengers" tomorrow, next year, after five years, and ten years hence? Under the upgrading scheme of the then ZIA (which was to have started end of 2008, but since discarded) a second runway on the western side was proposed. The third argument is, due to space constraint in the terminal building, modern five-level security concept cannot be employed, which is mandatory as per the ICAO guidelines. This is a very potent argument. One would like to ask as to how other international airports, smaller than the HSJIA, address the stipulation. Fourthly, proximity of the cantonment and major conurbations to the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport makes its extensive future expansion impossible. One has to only look at the north and north western side of the airport to see the vast tract of empty land that can be utilised for expansion. In this context we feel that the government is obliged to make public the details of the study basing on which the plan for a new airport has been approved, as also the logic behind shifting the choice to Airal Beel. It is important for the public to know whether or not we could have done with modifying and expanding the existing one. It is important to dispel the public perception that it is a whimsical undertaking stemming from political pressure. It is indeed a vast project that not only involves constructing a new airport but many other things besides, which will involve 25,000 acres as compared to the 2,000 acres that the HSJIA occupies. And, do we have a ministry of environment study of the ecological impact of the project? There may well be a need for a new airport. The question that needs to be answered is have we done all the necessary studies to justify discarding the current one and going for an altogether new one? Have we spent the optimum effort in evaluating the need for a project that will involve more than $7 billion, and impact a large number of people adversely? There is always a predilection for mega-projects that is justified by tenuous arguments, and where other considerations than public good motivate ideas. That is what the government should guard against. The author is Editor, Defence & Strategic Affairs, The Daily Star. |
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