CHATTOGRAM, Sept 12, 2021 (BSS) - The Institute of Marine Technology (IMT)
is going to be established for the first time here to develop skilled
manpower for shipbuilding industry.

   All are set to construct IMT on the bank of Karnafuli River, adjacent to
Kalpalok residential area at Bakalia Thana in the city.

   Land acquisition has already been completed in this regard, sources said.

   The institute will be conducted by the Manpower Employment and Training
Bureau under the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment.

   The students of the Institute will be able to make a significant
contribution to Bangladesh's emerging shipbuilding industry and increasing
foreign remittances after completing studies at a very lower cost.

   Chattogram District Employment and Manpower Office sources said it will be
constructed under a project taken to set up 40 technical training centers in
40 upazilas and one Institute of Marine Technology (IMT) in Chattogram.

  The cost for the project has been estimated at Tk 1,667.7 crore.

  Chattogram district administration has already acquired 2.5 acres of land
in city's Bakalia area and formally handed over to the Chattogram District
Employment and Manpower Office on August 25 last.

  The Department of Housing and Public Works will start construction work on
the acquired land soon.

   Sources also said such an institute was set up in the area adjacent to
Bandar Thana on the east bank of Shitalakshya River in Narayanganj. Its name
is Bangladesh Institute of Marine Technology (BIMT).

   BIMT started its journey on 10 acres of land in 1958 with nearly 2250
students currently studying.

  It is a government engineering institute, offering a four-year Engineering
Diploma in Marine and Shipbuilding Technology.

   BIMT also offers four separate courses in the engineering department.

   Manpower Employment and Training Bureau of the Ministry of Expatriate
Welfare and Overseas Employment conducted and regulated it.

  Students will get the opportunity for higher education abroad at lower cost
after completing study here.

   After studying, they will get job opportunities in the world especially in
Singapore, Germany, Japan, England, Qatar, Australia and Dubai.

  Apart from this, they will also get job in foreign and domestic ships,
shipyards and dockyards, power plants, design sections and cement factories.

   Talking to BSS, Mohammad Zahirul Alam Majumder, Deputy Director at
District Employment and Manpower Office, Chattogram, said that the main
target of construction IMT is to create skilled manpower for ocean-going ship
of the country.

   He said they formally received the acquired land from district
administration.

   Ratan Kumar Ghosh, project director, told BSS that the Department of
Housing and Public Works will begin construction of the building on the
acquired land very soon.

   "We hope to complete the project by 2022," he added.