KALADAN NEWS

Dated: June 9, 2004

Changes at Bangladesh-Burma Immigration Jetty Hamper Passengers of Both Countries

Teknaf, June 9: Changes effective on June 2^nd, 2004 at the Bangladesh-Burma immigration jetty from Teknaf main town to land port (Port jetty), makes passengers of both countries uneasy to cross the border, according to our source. 

On 1^st June 2004, at about 8:00 am, Mr. Jafar Ali Khan, the Chairman of the Teknaf Immigration Board, Mr. Abdul Gafur, Customs officer, Mr. Abdul Latif, the director of the Teknaf Land Port and other port officials held a meeting at the Teknaf immigration office. At this meeting, they decided to charge passengers Tk.17 for parking per car, Tk.3 for Jetty fare and Tk. 150 for roundtrip boat fare after the transferring of immigration jetty from its place to port jetty, he further said. 

Officials said “We have some problems to maintain two jetties at a time, so we have to change it into one jetty. Now, we feel easier by using this single jetty, but the general public will face more problems because this single jetty is far from the main town. It is also used for the loading and unloading of goods. People need to keep it separate.”

When asked, two passengers who had recently crossed the Burma-Bangladesh border said, “We faced many problems, such as waiting for the immigration officer and custom clearance because the land port was busy with the loading and unloading of goods. We have to pay extra money to go to town. So, we want to separate the port jetty and immigration jetty to avoid the difficult transfer of the passengers.”

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