Maheshkhali ready to welcome PM

Maheshkhali upazila of the tourist hub Cox’s Bazar is set to welcome Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as she will address a public meeting and open and lay foundation stones of over a dozen development projects here today (November 11).

The projects included much-anticipated 102km Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar railway line, 1200 MW Matarbari power plant and deep seaport’s channel.

Ahead of the premier’s visit, the entire district town, where the world’s longest sea beach locates, wore a festive mood as makeshift gates have been erected, banners and festoons carrying messages for welcoming Bangabandhu’s daughter hoisted at important points of the town.

The premier will formally inaugurate the train service at the newly built Cox’s Bazar railway station at 11am. She will begin journey by train on the new railway line from Cox’s Bazar station for Ramu station at 12pm.

Later, she will go to Ramu cantonment by road at 12.20pm. From there, the premier will go towards Matarbari Deep Sea Port Channel at Maheshkhali upazila of Cox’s Bazar to join the inaugural ceremony of the channel at 2.30pm.

Sheikh Hasina, also Awami League (AL) president, will join a public meeting at Matarbari Thermal Power Plant Project’s township ground at 3.15pm under the arrangement of AL’s Maheshkhali Upazila unit.

Ashek Ullah Rafiq, Cox’s Bazar-2 constituency lawmaker, said the people of Cox’s Bazar district are eagerly waiting to welcome Bangabandhu’s daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as the meeting is expected to turn into a human sea.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will also inaugurate the 1200 MW Matarbari thermal power plant’s first unit (600 MW) located near deep seaport at Matarbari under Maheshkhali upazila in Cox’s Bazar district.

She will inaugurate the Matarbari deep seaport’s 14.3-kilometre-long artificial navigation channel stretching from the proposed terminal to the sea and lay the foundation stone for the construction of the first terminal of the port which is targeted to start operations in 2026.

The premier will also inaugurate the SPM (Single Point Mooring), which is expected to save about Tk. 800 crore annually. A single-point mooring or SPM, also known as Single buoy mooring (SrM, is a loading buoy anchored offshore, that serves as a mooring point and interconnect for tankers loading or offloading gas or liquid products.