Managing Director of National Inland Waterways Authority , Senator Olorunibe Mamora, has called on the contractor handling the installation of cargo handling equipment at the Baro River Port to immediately move to site and commence work before the end of the year.
Mamora made the call during a visit to the port recently even as he assured the contractor that the NIWA would reconstruct the bad portion of the road leading to Baro in two weeks for easy movement of equipment and personnel to the River Port.
Receiving the Managing Director, the representative of the company handling the installation of the cargo handling equipment, Mr. Opeyemi Olabanji of First Index Project and Service Ltd, said the recent flood and the bad road leading to Baro delayed the timely installation of the cargo handling equipment at the Port .
The Managing Director also expressed displeasure at the state of some of the facilities at the port.
Specifically, he was not happy at the administrative block, the water treatment plant, the generator house and security post as called on the contractor that handled the building project to come back and repair the structure.
Senator Mamora however pledged to improve the welfare of the men of the Nigerian Police Force attached to the river port for better performance.
While receiving the traditional head of Baro, Mallam Mohammed Salihu Ndanusa, at the port, Mamora thanked the community for their support to the contractors and other stakeholders. He called for more support from them in securing the port, assuring them that the community would benefit more when the port becomes operational.
Responding, the monarch, Ndanusa, thanked the NIWA boss for the visit and assured him of the support of his community.
Mamora had on the same day escaped death on the Lagos inland waterways by the whisker.
It was gathered that the boat the NIWA boss, who was on the tour of the facilities of the authority in the Lagos area office, was traveling in, had hit an abandoned wreck that was hidden under the brownish water.
Also on the entourage of the MD was the Area Manager, Lagos Office of NIWA, Muazu Sambo; one time acting Managing Director, NIWA, Barr Danladi Ibrahim; journalists and several others who joined the MD in the tour of facilities of the authority.
According to an eye witness, the incident occurred shortly, after inspecting the NIWA CMS office facility, Apapa, Ijora, Oyingbo jetties and heading towards Osborne foreshore to also inspect Texas connection ferries.
After inspecting Texas connection ferries, the NIWA team called for a change boat to continue with the facility tour of other jetties across the state, as NIWA’s staff attributed their survival from the situation to the mercy of God.
Confirming the near mishap, the Personal Assistant to the MD, Technical Services, Engr. Emmanuel Ilori, said the obstacle was an underwater wreckage. He said the present management of the authority was seriously concerned about safety and security in the nation’s inland waterways.
He said, “Safety and security of inland waterways is the priority of the present management of NIWA. it is not only issue of wrecks removal, we will remove wrecks and causes of wrecks and that is what we will be looking at fundamentally. So, to prevent boat mishap on the inland waterways and to be sure that when wrecks are removed they are not dumped into another place where it will become another hazard. “
Ilori who is the Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Shipowners Association, said the authority would also survey under the water and place danger signs on the area where there are
wrecks.
“What we are looking at is to survey the wrecks. It is not only wrecks that we see on the surface alone because we also have wrecks under the water and these are underwater issues that is why we say when people remove wrecks, we want to understand how they will dispose of the wrecks and it won’t cause another hazard elsewhere.
“Don’t forget that the boat the MD was in was passing on the water and it went over the wreck. The primary thing is to survey the water and identify whatever it is and even if can’t be removed, we ask boat operators to avoid the area because of wrecks. Wrecks removal is not the immediate solution but to identify where the wrecks are and begin to remove them and know how to dispose them. Also, to identify where the wrecks are and mark them so that people are aware of where danger lies and avoid it,” he said.
