Determined to improve cargo dwell time at the port, the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, on Tuesday, commissioned a 4.8km road and a marine craft at Onne Port in Rivers State
Speaking at the commissioning in Onne, Rivers State, Adegboyega Oyetola, minister of the Marine and Blue Economy, said the Federal Government is poised to provide the facilitation and advocacy required to grow the vessel traffic to the Eastern ports.
According to him, deepening efficiencies and full capacity utilisation of the Eastern ports constitutes one of the tools deployed to achieve the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) assigned to the ministry under the Presidential Performance Bond.
Expressing delight that the Onne and Calabar Port Complexes have met the requirements of the International Organisation for Standardisation and are ISO certified, he said, the newly commissioned road and mooring boats would further enhance the security and safety at the Eastern port.
According to him, providing an enabling environment for investors to patronise the Eastern ports is the top priority of the Ministry.
“This road infrastructure constructed by the Ports Authority and the mooring boats is another testament to the commitment of the Ministry to maximise the entire gamut of opportunities conferred on us by our maritime endowments, in line with the directives of President Bola Tinubu.
“The Mooring Boats are used to safety berth vessels calling at various pilotage districts. These six mooring boats are our way of further enhancing the security and safety of our maritime space. Providing the enabling atmosphere for investors to patronise the Eastern Ports of Onne, Rivers, Warri, and Calabar is top on the Ministry’s agenda,” he said.
The minister, however, assured stakeholders that he would continue to approve initiatives that would further enhance the performance of the seaports.
He commended the Management of NPA for the prudent application of resources that financed the two projects, promising to commit to granting prompt approvals to initiatives that enable continuous improvement in the performance of Nigerian ports.
Earlier, Mohammed Bello-Koko, managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, said the commissioning of the newly constructed road and deployment of the marine craft will positively impact cargo dwell time and win back huge revenues hitherto lost to terminal operators’ inability to meet their performance targets on account of inaccessibility to their lease areas due to bad road.
According to him, the vast expanse of reclaimed land already leased for port development is a link to growth in new business opportunities and increased revenue for the national economy.
“The Phase 4B houses a significant portion of the untapped potentials of the Onne Port Complex, thus the completion of Road “D” which is the major arterial link to the new Berths 9, 10, 11 & 12 at Federal Ocean Terminal (FOT) and vast expanse of reclaimed land already leased for port development is a link to growth in new business opportunities and increased revenue for the national economy.
Bello-Koko also demanded the minister’s support for the concrete fencing of a stretch of land at the Onne port to guard against unauthorised access into the port.
