Two firms apply to use River Niger, as govt completes its dredging
Wednesday, 01 June 2011 00:00 By David Ogah Business Services - Maritime Watch
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NAVIGATION along the River Niger is now feasible with the additional N10 billion spent by the Federal Government to remove 6.1 million cubic metres of silt between Jamata and Baro on lot 5 of the River Niger dredged scheme.

Already, two companies have registered to use the dredging river for movement of cement and petroleum products.

While Sterlion Oil Company was said to have registered to use the river for the transportation of petroleum products from Warri to the Northern parts of the country, Ninon Tranport Limited has constructed jetty at Lokoja for movement of cement from Dangote Cement at Obajana to the East and South-South region of the country.

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Mr. Ahmed Aminu Yar’Adua said in Lokoja over the weekend that his authority was working with the two companies to put the dredged channel into commercial use.

“We have, by now, finished the dredging of the River Niger. We are now working with a transport company and an oil company to move cement and oil products through the channel. We are trying to start our own transport services in collaboration with some private individuals. We want to buy a 45-seater boat to carry passengers from Onitsha through the river.

“We want to dredge the Benue River and we intend to construct jetties along the river. We also hope to buy our own dredgers and work with some consultant engineering companies to maintain the dredged channel,” he said.

The Federal Government had envisaged the evacuation of 900,000 cubic metre between the two cities along the river when the contract for the project was awarded two years ago.

But with the additional 6.1 million cubic metres, the total volume of silt removed from the river between the two Northern cities was seven million cubic metres and that alone jacked up the entire dredging cost to N45 billion, up from the initial N35 billion.

The Federal Government had awarded the contract for the project at a whooping N35 billion, but the contractor handling lot 5 area, covering the two Northern cities in Kogi and Niger States reported later that the project might require the removal of 7.7 million cubic metres of silt from the area where an estimated 900,000 cubic metres was envisaged in the initial contract.

Transport Minister, Alhaji Sulaiman Yusuf told The Guardian in Abuja recently, that the contractor working in the area had already dredged 1.5 million cubic metres of sand after covering 15 kilometres of the 65 kilometres of the portion to be dredged.

He said, although, the dredging of the river was 80 per cent completed, he was still facing the challenge of reconciling the claim of 7.7 million cubic metres of silt and the initial recommendation of 900,000 cubic metres upon which the contract was awarded.

“The challenge I have as a minister on the dredging of the Niger is the reconciliation of the claim of 7.7 million cubic metres of silt and the consultant recommendation of 900,000 cubic metres upon which the contract for the dredging was awarded.”

He said two different independent hydrographers were contracted to access the level of siltation between Jamata and Baro, and they came up with six million cubic metres of silt.

Based on the findings by the two different hydrographers, the ministry decided to set up a reconciliation committee, which later submitted its report.

“We have to approach the president for the difference because that will amount to additional cost,” he said.

“We want to confirm that slot 1-4 are now navigable after dredging. The dredging of the river is now 80 per cent completed, only about 25 per cent of the work is left. It will be incorrect for anybody to say the present administration has abandoned the project. They should come and celebrate it with us. The major challenges we have now are the contractors working on the river ports that could transform the economic life of their immediate environment.”

The Federal Government awarded the dredging contract of the river to six contractors in 2009 in five slots at over N30 billion. The contractors are Fungtai Nigeria Limited, which was awarded the first slot, while two slots went to Dredging International. Slot three and four were awarded to Van Dord, while the last of the slots went to Williams Lloyds Nigeria Limited.

They were all paid N35 billion just as that consultants that supervised their job on behalf of the government were paid N1.2 billion, for their consultancy services.

The consultants are Arms Consultant Nigeria Limited, Royal Haskony, Dredging and Marine International, and Jaguta International Limited.

The dredging contract was first awarded by the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration in 2007, but the contractors were unable to move to site because of fund paucity.

The project initial hitches included the litigation against the government by people of Niger Delta as the Ijaw National Congress took the Federal Government to the Federal High Court in Benin to seek an injunction to prevent its commencement unless the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the affected area was undertaken. The government complied and the EIA was produced.

Before and shortly after independence, inland waterways transportation was a major mode of mass movement for passengers and goods in the country. The River Niger was the main navigational channel commonly used by the colonial masters to facilitate trade between Nigeria and their home country.

Companies such as: UTC, CFAO and UAC transported a lot of imported goods from the ports to the hinterland. They also moved agricultural products from the hinterland to the Southern Ports of the country through the River Niger.

During the Nigeria Civil war, the River Niger was intensively used for the movement of arms. These advantages of water transportation have since been eroded with the advent of road network in the country.

MaziUche is that you?

good, progress being made