From TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
Minister of State for Transportation, Senator Gemisola Saraki, has declared that Federal Government is committed to ensuring safety on Nigeria’s waterways.
Senator Saraki said this at the commissioning of newly acquired vessels for the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
She disclosed that Federal Government purchased the boats to ensure smooth movement of vessels and safety in the maritime environment.
The minister urged NIWA to ensure it harnesses the great maritime potentials properly, saying that a country such as Nigeria with over 10,000 kilometers inland waterways is blessed.
She noted that the inland waterways is verifiably the cheapest and safest mode of transportation which equally plays a critical role in the multi-modal transportation.
Represented by the Managing Director of NIWA, Dr. George Moghalu, Saraki stressed that the vessels and other boats commissioned would aid in the security of waterways.
She stated that waterways must be dredged to achieve the required draft, adequate survey, mapping and charting with marker bouys and signal put in place with every necessary step taken to ensure safe navigation.
Saraki expressed: “A country blessed with more than 10,000 kilometers of inland waterways is certainly a nation with great maritime potentials if such natural endowment are properly harnessed.
“Inland waterways is verifiably, the cheapest and safest mode of transportation. It is, therefore, compelling that waterways must be dredged to achieve the required draft, adequate survey, mapping and charting with marker bouys and signages put in place and every necessary step taken to ensure safe navigation.
“The two patrol boats and some of the authority vessels provide security on the waterways. What is much more gratifying is the fact that the craft being commissioned today, were built in the country by Nigerians.”
Earlier in his address, Moghalu, represented by the General Manager, Maritime Service, Mr. Joseph Ororo, reiterated that the huge opportunities that abound within the National Inland Waterways could only be maximized in an atmosphere of a strong regulatory framework.
According to Moghalu, “The narrative that out of over 10,000 kilometers of inland waterways, only about 3,000 is navigable all year round is not complimentary.”
He noted that 28 out of the 36 states in the country can be accessed by water.
Moghalu disclosed that the agency had purchased a Tug boat, house boat, water ambulance and patrol boats, adding that two patrol boats among the vessels being commissioned, were only parts of the 20 boats that were recently acquired and are being allocated to various area offices.
He noted that roads are choked with excess axle loads which have resulted in very high cost of maintenance, and its attendant loss of lives and property due to avoidable accidents.
He added: “Only a deliberate policy of action plan can reverse this commentary for the better.”
Moghalu stressed that with the newly acquired vessels, security on the waterways would be enhanced.