Mkpoikana Udoma
14 June 2018, Sweetcrude, Port Harcourt — As plans to bring the Ibom Deep Seaport project into reality gathers momentum, three Chinese firms are already bidding for the development of the seaport project.
The firms bidding for the project are, Bollore and Power China, China Road Breach Corporation and China Harbour Engineering Company.
Chairman, Ibom Deep Seaport and Industrial City Technical Committee, Mrs. Mfon Usoro, said Akwa Ibom State government has just completed a Pre-Bid Conference for the port development with the three qualified bidders and other stakeholders.
Usoro told newsmen that the Pre-bid conference which held last month in Uyo, the state capital, is a mandatory requirement in the Federal Government’s procurement process.
She disclosed that the conference provided more information on the project for the bidders, to aide their submission of robust proposals to the Ministerial Projects Development Steering Committee for evaluation before the parties involved gets to the next stage of the project.
“We have attained another milestone in the project development of Ibom Deep Seaport.
“At the end of the evaluation, the preferred bidder will be announced and thereafter get to negotiation with sponsors on the concession and shareholders’ agreement.
“Hopefully before the end of the year, we should come to the end of the entire transaction since everyone involved in the project is showing great commitment.”
Meanwhile, the Director of Maritime Services, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Mr. Umar Galadanchi, says the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Chibuike Ameachi, is passionate about the Ibom Deep Seaport project.
Galadanchi who is also the Chairman, Ibom Deep Seaport Project Development Steering Committee, the ministry was earnestly working with the state technical committee and other stakeholders to achieve the result.
He added that the project is not just for Akwa Ibom State, but for the country and Africa in general, saying, “I wish to inform you that we have been working in a way that by God’s grace, the project may commence sooner than expected.”
It should be noted that the Ibom deep seaport is designed for large vessels that can load over 13 thousand containers in one voyage. The seaport is expected to be a trans-shipment port for smaller vessels to re-distribute cargo from the mega vessels to seaports, river ports closer to the consignees in Nigeria, West and Central African Region.
