Welcome, Guest: Register On Nairaland / LOGIN! / Trending / Recent / New
Stats: 3,143,337 members, 7,780,885 topics. Date: Friday, 29 March 2024 at 02:35 AM

Onitsha River Port In Limbo As Concessionaires Lobby For Job - Politics - Nairaland

Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Politics / Onitsha River Port In Limbo As Concessionaires Lobby For Job (1626 Views)

Onitsha Is One Of Biggest River Port City In Nigeria Photos / Ikpeazu starts Work On Obuaku-River Port / Onitsha River Port Ready By October (2) (3) (4)

(1) (Reply)

Onitsha River Port In Limbo As Concessionaires Lobby For Job by sirwilli(m): 10:19am On Jun 09, 2013
Eight months after completion, government yet to make income

EIGHT months after commissioning for use, the Onitsha River Port Complex, which situated east of the River Niger at Onitsha, Anambra State, it is yet to resume operations as skimmers on concession from Presidency and Federal Ministry of Transport are jostling to be considered for the task.

The Guardian gathered that there has been a clash of interest on the concessioning, as some people are said to be lobbying the presidency, while others the Ministry of Transportation and Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) among others.

Following a recent public statement that the concessioning of the port is awaiting the completion of Oguta River Port, located at Osse Motor in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo state, and that of Baro in Kogi State would be concessioned together, it was gathered that only the Onitsha port is at the last stage.

According to the resident engineer of both river ports, Engr. Aguda, it is not possible to concession the three ports together due to certain processes that they will follow. “Concession takes certain stages and that of Onitsha is at the last stage. Oguta and Baro are likely to be completed this year. We have missed the March completion date for Oguta due to delay in release of funds.”

Aguda explained that to open a discussion on concession of Oguta port, it has to be completed and commissioned, before the issue of concessioning will be brought into the picture. He noted that the concession of Onitsha river port will soon be over.

According to him, the trio would not be considered for commissioning and concessioning at the same time because they are being created to serve the same purpose but in different ways and locations; they do not have the same completion date and therefore, will not work.

“Those in charge of the concessioning have visited thrice, likewise the World Bank. The port will soon take off. I do not know how long more it will be. We have gone far with the Oguta project; at least, the port is at 82 per cent completion. It would have been completed by now but there was a little delay due to the challenge of fund scarcity. So, I would say that non operation of Onitsha River Port is traceable to delay on the concessioning.”

He noted that the 82per cent completion quoted is on the average, adding that some of the buildings at the site have gone beyond that. He maintained that 82per cent represents the extent of work done in proportion to the amount of money released. “No fund has been released this year for the job. If fund is released, the project would be completed before the end of the year.”

During the visit to Osse Motor River Port in Oguta, it was discovered that work is in progress at the port but work on the ground does not show an advanced pace and nowhere near completion. The structures such as the arrival warehouse and quay platform are yet to be fixed. However, there are a number of completed warehouses.

Some surveyors were seen at the site taking records but claims on completion of the port this year is in doubt, from our findings.

The Deputy General Manager, Corporate Affairs, NIWA, Mr. Tayo Fadile, confirmed that the delay was as a result of concession. He noted that the port is undergoing necessary concessioning stages, which he believes would soon be completed take off operations but claimed he was not aware of the idea to concession the Onitsha port alongside Baro and Uguta ports.

Meanwhile, non operation of the multibillion naira facility is yet to earn the government any income as NIWA, the government ge of providing regulations for inland navigation and registering of motorised boats in the waterways is losing much for non registering of more boats, and other vessels on the waterways due to non operational of the port.

According to the Deputy General Manager and Area Manager, Onitsha River Port, the ministry is losing money due to paucity of working capital.

To him, the agency makes between N20m and N30m monthly for the government yet gets only N120, 000 as monthly working capital. The agency, which makes between N240m and N360m per annum, out of which only N1.440000 is given it as an annual operational fund, would generate more revenue if the port were operational and more vessels registered.

“When we chase after those owing us without much success and our working fund finishes, the work stops. Most times, they capitalise on this, knowing that we do not have the resources to sustain our debt recovery programme. They tend to evade payment until we give up,” said Iloba.

He noted that the operation of the Onitsha port would earn more money for the government and create jobs for citizens. “Well, upon concession, we hope that the concessionaire would help us do this by alerting us on arrival of unregistered boats, barges and other vessels at the port.”

(1) (Reply)

This Road leads To The Home Town Of Sunday Onyebuchi Deputy Governor Enugu State / Sanusi, CBN Gov, NPC Boss May Lose Their Jobs / Enugu State : An Unprecedented Transformation

(Go Up)

Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health
religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket

Links: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2024 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise. 16
Disclaimer: Every Nairaland member is solely responsible for anything that he/she posts or uploads on Nairaland.