N10bn Baro, Lokoja, Ogoja ports ready in 2017— NIWA
Lokoja—National Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA, yesterday, said works on the N10 billion inland ports under construction in Baro, Lokoja and Ogoja would be completed in 2017.
The Managing Director of NIWA, Mr. Boss Mustapha, disclosed this in Lokoja, adding that works on the ports at Baro, Lokoja and Ogoja had reached 98 percent, 57 percent and 75 percent completion, respectively. He put the contract sums of the ports at Baro at N3.5 billion; Lokoja, N4.1 billion and Ogoja, N2.7 billion. According to him, all the ports would be completed during the 2017 fiscal year and would be provided with other auxiliary facilities.
The NIWA boss also said that the augury port in Imo State had reached 70 percent completion stage, while the Onitsha port had been completed and ready for use.
According to him, NIWA had received certificate of compliance from the regulatory body and the process of concessioning the Onitsha Port to private operators will commence soon. He explained that when completed, the port would service the entire South-East, noting that 10 other jetties were also being constructed across the country. Mustapha expressed hope that “the ongoing process to amend the law establishing the organisation would enable it resolve problems of overlapping of responsibilities and conflicts in the maritime sector.”
Source: vanguardngr.com
