Ahead the efforts of the Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu to ensure that a deep seaport is constructed in his domain, the Management of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has expressed its readiness to work with the state government to bring the deep seaport into reality.

The General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications of NPA, Engr. Adam Jatto dropped the hint in Abuja, on Thursday, at the sideline of the House of Representatives Adhoc Committee enquiring why the Eastern ports are underutlised.

He said: “The government of Ondo State has already written to the Authority for the Ondo Deep Seaport project and we are following the progress they making in that direction and the Authority is prepared to collaborate with the state to realise that dream. Our Managing Director, Ms Hadiza Bala-Usman would soon meet the Governor of Ondo State for that purpose.”





Speaking earlier, the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Bala Usman has disclosed that the Authority has dredged Escravos Channel leading to Delta Ports from 3.4 to 7 meters to accommodate bigger vessels.





Ms Hadiza made this disclosure while explaining NPA’s contributions to making Eastern Ports function better during the public hearing by an Ad-Hoc Committee of the House of Representatives.

Represented by the NPA Executive Director in charge of Engineering and Technical Services, Engr. Idris Abubakar, Hadiza said that the Escravos Channel was last dredged 35 years ago before her administration embarked on it.





The MD said aside reduction in terminal charges to encourage patronage of the ports, her administration has embarked on corporate social responsibility to alleviate the plights of host communities and encourage entrepreneurship.





She told the lawmakers that the distance from the fairway buoys in the Eastern Ports are much longer than that of Lagos Ports and will require vessels in Eastern Ports to deploy more fuel and spend more time before berthing.

She added that the breakwater in Warri Port has given way for long while roads leading to the ports in different parts of the country require attention of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing.





NPA according to her had written to the Ministry of Works since 2016 requesting that bridges in Taraba and roads leading from Calabar Port from the North East part of the country be fixed to enable cargo movement from Calabar to the north.





“We have installed Local Maritime Distress Surveillance System (LMDSS) Coastal Station. We are also running radio signals for over ten years to assist mariners calling at the eastern ports,” she said.



Source: https://www.newtelegraphng.com/2019/08/npa-to-partner-ondo-on-deep-seaport-project/