Mkpoikana Udoma
15 February 2018, Sweetcrude, Port Harcourt — The Nigeria Government has blamed the low patronage of seaports in the eastern part of the country on insecurity in the Niger Delta region.
The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, ICRC, made this known in Port Harcourt, during a tour of seaports in the state to assess the compliance level by the ports concessionaires.
Speaking, the Acting Director-General of ICRC, Engr. Chidi Izunwa, who expressed worries over the high level of insecurity on the eastern waterways, maintained that insecurity and not high charges were responsible for low activities on eastern ports.
Izunwa, however, promised that the Commission will do everything possible to ensure the smooth running of eastern ports especially, the Port Harcourt seaport.
He explained that the Commission as an agency of the Federal Government takes custody of all concessionary agreement between the government and the private sector to ensure efficient execution.
According to him, “Security is very important. If vessels are coming here and vessel and people are attacked they would not want to come again.
“This is a challenge that is affecting the ports in this region and not the issue of high charges. Security is a very expensive thing.
“It is important that we tell our people that without security our businesses cannot prosper. When we went to the South-West on this same visit, I allowed my staff to leave and move freely, but we are here today I have insisted that they stay in one particular place so I can provide security for them.”
The ICRC Acting Director-General, however, promised that all the challenges identified by the concessionaires would be transmitted to appropriate authorities, adding that high charges were as a result of the cost of doing business in the region due to the issue of insecurity.
Earlier, concessionaires in the Port Harcourt seaport pointed out the need for the dredging of port channels as well as recurrent attacks on their vessels around Bonny waterways by sea pirates.
Two concessionaires at the seaport, Ports and Terminal Operators Nigerian Limited as well as BUA Ports and Terminal Limited, lamented that their vessels were being attacked regularly.
The General Manager of BUA Ports and Terminal, Mr. Mohammed Ibrahim, explained the incessant attacks on its vessels had affected the company from operating optimally.
Ibrahim added that operators now involve the services of security agencies to escort their vessels to avoided pirate attack, regretting that security was adding a huge cost to their operations.
