Onitsha River port ready in May - Minister

There is light at the end of the tunnel for businessmen and those who like to travel by sea as the Onitsha River Port will come to live in May this year.

Transport minister, Senator Idris Umar disclosed this yesterday while answering questions from senior editors of several newspapers and broadcast organisations at the 19th Leadership Forum organised by the Nigerian Pilot Newspaper/Newsworld magazine in Abuja.

He said the port, which ought to have been commissioned for use before the end of last year, would definitely be commissioned and opened for use in May. He paid tribute to the builders, Interbau Nigeria Ltd, for a good job on the port.

“The project is about 97 percent complete now. And we are working at getting Mr. President to commission it and declare it open for use in May,” he said.

Disclosing reasons the earlier envisaged opening date was shifted, Sen. Umar said that there were discoveries of some details that had not been taken into consideration leading to a shift in commissioning date to allow the builders more time to make up.

“I did promise that it would be commissioned before the end of last year. But I discovered that the stacking area was inadequate for a port of that magnitude. So, we had to increase the stacking area to increase the capacity of the port in that regard. We also discovered that it had no gate and no power generator. So, we had to extend the time to ensure that these things were provided.

“Three weeks ago, I took a memo to council for augmentation for the project. Now, it is about 97 percent complete. We have reports to that effect from the Inland Waterways Authority and from the consultants. Our officials are also going there on Thursday for inspection before we commission it.

“We want to commission it for use in line with Mr. President’s directive that every project must be ready for commissioning to use, not to commission and shut it down,” he said, adding that the dredging of River Niger is now complete and the river navigable.

Speaking further, Sen. Umar disclosed that government would soon bring an Executive Bill before the National Assembly to repeal and re-enact the Nigerian Railway Act so as to liberalise railway transport in the country.

According to him, the Railway Act, as presently in force, prohibits private sector investments in rail transport adding that when the Executive bill is presented and enacted, even states would be empowered to own railway lines, if they so desire.

“Presently, we are working on a bill, in collaboration with the Bureau for Public Enterprises, BPE, to repeal and re-enact the Nigeria Railway Act. When that is done, states can even establish railways. Even private sector operators can do same. It will improve investments in rail transport in the country,” he said.

According to him, work on the bill is almost complete and just awaiting final touches before presentation to the National Assembly.

Senator Umar, who also commented on the award of a waterways security contract by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, to a private firm owned by an ex-Niger Delta militant, said the agency was in order in the award of the contract.

According to him, the contract is performance-based and was sealed on a ‘no cure, no pay’ basis.

He said the company contracted for the security, was not empowered to carry arms in the discharge of its responsibility as its job entailed only the provision of platforms for the security of the waterways.

The minister said public outburst over the contract was misconstrued as NIMASA was empowered, by the law establishing it, to, in the discharge of its duties, also engage or partner with either government agencies or private companies.

According to him, the NIMASA Act, which is an Act of parliament, “empowers it to do its work by itself or by any agency of government or by natural person or a juristic person like the Globalways Ltd that has won a contract with NIMASA to provide platforms and expertise to safeguard waterways.”

“Personnel of the company are not required to carry arms. Government did not concession security of the waterways to a private firm. The company is to rather provide expertise and platforms to NIMASA. The contract is on no cure, no pay basis. The company is entitled to a fee of 50 percent of whatever they collect above the baseline which NIMASA had set. The baseline arose from NIMASA calculated intakes from 2010 and 2011. So, they get a fee of 50 percent of their collections that are above the benchmark set by NIMASA.

“It is not a contract where one is paid a certain amount of money. They rather are investing about $103m in securing the waterways. But the baseline is renewable every three years,” the minister said, adding that NIMASA also maintains its understanding with the Nigerian Navy for the provision of armed security on the waterways.

Commenting on the development of deep sea ports across the country, Sen. Umar said government was in talks with investors who had indicated interest in such projects, adding that the deep sea port at Ibaka in Akwa Ibom State had received a major boost as the state government had approved the certificate of occupancy for the land.

He also said that documentation necessary for the commencement of work on the Lekki Deep Sea Port, Olukola Deep sea port and the Badagary deep sea port are ready.

“All documentation is ready,” he said, adding that ownership of the ports will be considered on a 60:20:20 bases between the investor, host community and Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA.

On the dredging of River Benue, the minister said efforts are in top gear to ensure that everything that ought to be done is adequately done and captured in the feasibility studies that is currently underway, before contract is awarded.

“We intend to award contract for the dredging of River Benue from Makurdi to Yola. Feasibility studies will soon be undertaken and we want to ensure that it captures all the necessary details so that nothing will hinder effective execution of the contract,” he said.

On rail transport, Sen. Umar who said rehabilitation work on the western corridor of the railway network is nearing completion also disclosed that feasibility studies were now being undertaken for the building of high speed railways lines across the country.

According to him, study on the project will aid investors, who had already expressed interest in investing in the project, in making investment decisions, adding that government does not have the resources to solely invest on the project considering other competing needs.

On the development of inland dry ports, Sen. Umar noted that work on the six dry ports already approved are in top gears, adding however that “investors have requested that we allow these depots to operate as ports of origin or final destination. We are looking into that and approval has been given in principle, what is left is just the documentation.”