—as Omatseye describes Tin Can port as an eyesore

The Eyewitness Reporter

The Nigerian Ports Authority(NPA) has expressed frustration at securing competent funding partners to drive its ambitious $800m port infrastructural renewal project across the country.

This is even as Barrister Temisan Omatseye, the former Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency(NIMASA) described the TinCan Island port as a total disaster.

The rehabilitation project of the NPA is a fallout of the dilapidated facilities at most of these ports across the nation, especially at Apapa, Tin Can Island, Onne and Calabar ports.

While explaining the efforts and determination of the NPA to halt the port infrastructural degradation process through rehabilitation exercise, the Managing Director of NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko, disclosed that the agency has engaged in top-level discussions with both the local and international funding agencies but the NPA is being cautious and meticulous in its selection process in order not to make mistake’

Bello-Koko, who was the guest speaker at the breakfast meeting convened by the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria(MARAN) on the rehabilitation of dilapidated infrastructure at the Tin Can Port, was represented by a General Manager in his office, Mr Ayo Durowaye, who disclosed that the NPA is at the concluding stage of negotiation to select a competent partner to drive the port rehabilitation project.

Bello- Koko had in a different forum declared that the agency needs the sum of $800 to rehabilitate the collapsing port infrastructures at the Apapa, Tin Can, Calabar and Onne ports.

However, at the MARAN breakfast meeting, the NPA MD, through his representative, said that Tin Can port is on the top agenda of infrastructural renewal efforts of the NPA which covers all the ports in the country.

He, however, disclosed that the fast-paced depreciation of the facilities at the Tin Can ports was a result of their tear and wear occasioned by heavy and consistent use of the port facilities there, saying that the Tin Can port has become old, having been established in 1977 and now handles about 60 to 65 percent of imports.

”The Tin Can Island port is one of the busiest ports in the country and is handling cargo far above its installed capacity over and over again in the last 20 years.

”The pressure on its facilities brings the tear and wear we are seeing today and NPA is expected to do something about it and we are doing something about it”, Mr Durowaye declared.

He revealed that NPA has explored various options to find a sustainable Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement that will drive the rehabilitation project.

”But it is very difficult these days to fund your facilities, you have to be creative. NPA is working to find funding options that will help us.

”We have had discussions with strong organisations on funding and technical competence to help us drive the rehabilitation and renewal efforts for port infrastructure across the country, especially the Tin Can Island Port.”

The NPA MD representative however said that despite the infrastructural deficiency at the Tin CAN port, bigger vessels are still calling at the ports as witnessed in recent times.

”Though, we have infrastructural challenges at the Tin Can Port, the situation has not come to where vessels will boycott the port”, he declared.

”Government is helping out with our efforts to find funding partners that will address these challenges.

”In all of these, the NPA has been doing whatever is within its capacity and power to ensure that the infrastructural deficits at the Tin Can port are addressed.

”About a month ago, the MD commissioned the rehabilitation of Control Towers at both the Apapa and the Tin Can ports which is the most comprehensive rehabilitation project in the history of the NPA.

”We are at the concluding stage of discussion with both the local and international funding partners with requisite financial and technical competence to fund our infrastructural development efforts” Mr Durowaye stated.

He, however, said that the agency was being cautious and meticulous in its selection process in order not to make mistakes that could jeopardise the rehabilitation project.

”NPA is not resting on its oars, we are taking tangible and verifiable steps to develop port infrastructure across the country.

”The Tin Can Island port is in focus and the evidence of our commitment is the number of visits made to the ports at the ministerial and management levels”, the NPA MD representative concluded

Meanwhile, Barrister Temisan Omatseye, during one of his numerous interventions at the breakfast meeting, said the poor state of the infrastructural facilities at the Tin Can Port was a result of the over-concentration of shipping companies and importers at the ports who prefer to use the port other than any other port in the country.

”Tin Can port has become a total disaster because we have so much depended on the port.

”Everybody wants to come to Lagos ports. Most of the vessels do not want to go to the Eastern ports due to security reasons”

The former DG NIMASA observed that the same problems plaguing the Lagos ports are now being transferred to the new deep sea port at Lekki, saying that failure to use other modes of evacuation of cargoe other than the road transportation, will spell doom for the Lekki port.

”We should use more water and rail transportation to evacuate cargo from the ports.

”If I have my way, I will close down the port gates to road transport. I will not allow any terminal to do road transport to evacuate cargo in order to encourage the use of water transportation. The same process should apply to the Lekki deep sea port” Omatseye declared.

He claimed that as a result of this neglect of other modes of cargo evacuation from the port, the clearing process is slow, cumbersome and expensive which he said has made some importers and vessels divert their cargo to the neighboring countries.

”With this, the NPA, Customs and other agencies of government are losing money” he stated.