Group Urged Transport Minister to pay attention to Maritime sector .
A group under the auspice of Nigerian Maritime Club(NIMARIC) Has urged the new Minister of Transport Rt Hon Chibuke Rotimi Ameachi to use his New appointment and office to create the needed chance in the Maritime sector.
There are a lot of paper work on ground and recommendation have already been made and what is now left was for him to work on it and implement them.
For example, in the shipping aspect, there is need for him to ensure that we are able to carry our crude oil ourselves instead of foreign ships carrying our crude oil. He has to make provisions for us to have enough ships and also in the area of building capacity. There is also need for us to diversify instead of everybody moving their containers by road, why can’t we move them by barges or using the rail. If the rails are working effectively, we would not be having all this problems. The location of the tank farms in Apapa is another problem which has affected movement in and out of Apapa. So the minister need to create more tank farms outside lagos.,if we can have some tank farms in the north center,that could reduce the rate of truck coming from the north to southwest or south-south to lift their products
There is also the need for the upgrade of Eastern ports and that of north central( Lokoja port) to support the transportation of liquid and solid cargoes via the sea route,which will help reduce the work load on our roads and reduce the rate of the accident caused by bad road or competitiveness among road users
The news minister should look at the port access road. The government generates billions of naira from the ports but it is not paying any attention to the deplorable condition of the access roads. We also expect that he ensures that the cabotage law is implemented and the rehabilitation of the rail system to evacuate cargoes from the ports as well as ensuring that Information Communication Technology (ICT) is made to work in all areas where it has not been keyed. I think that will go a long way in giving us a stressful port environment to work on and also create jobs for our people
We are aware of the fact that his appointment came with a lot of responsibility and he is aware of this but the group believe he will surpass his predecessor,if only he carries the stakeholders along in policy making and formations. It is also expected that he looks into why the cost of doing business at our ports still remains the highest all over the world because we can’t continue to suffer due to bad and unhelpful policy of previous administration. So he will need to synergies with the stakeholders because we are the ones wearing the shoe and we know where it hurts because if he goes to the government agencies, they will never tell him the truth because they are the beneficiaries of all these challenges we are facing today.
The challenges are enormous so also are the expectations but we hope that he will be able to face all these problems headlong and if he must achieve results.
The Minister should work with Nimasa to urgently revamp the our national carrier,we learnt that $50bn has been deposit for the acquisition of ships.
The minister should also look into the plight freight forwarders,these (agents) because they are making a lot of sacrifice to help government generate revenue, so there is need for government to also find a way of helping and compensating them at least in terms of skill acquisition, capacity development and training .
The minister should consider running a night economy in our port,ie 24 operational engagement ,this will help create jobs for the populace,and boast our economy.
Finally the new minister should create an institution(Research center) were all maritime workers,students and other stakeholders,and let it serve as a training
center..
DM.Hills Jr
A group under the auspice of Nigerian Maritime Club(NIMARIC) Has urged the new Minister of Transport Rt Hon Chibuke Rotimi Ameachi to use his New appointment and office to create the needed chance in the Maritime sector.
There are a lot of paper work on ground and recommendation have already been made and what is now left was for him to work on it and implement them.
For example, in the shipping aspect, there is need for him to ensure that we are able to carry our crude oil ourselves instead of foreign ships carrying our crude oil. He has to make provisions for us to have enough ships and also in the area of building capacity. There is also need for us to diversify instead of everybody moving their containers by road, why can’t we move them by barges or using the rail. If the rails are working effectively, we would not be having all this problems. The location of the tank farms in Apapa is another problem which has affected movement in and out of Apapa. So the minister need to create more tank farms outside lagos.,if we can have some tank farms in the north center,that could reduce the rate of truck coming from the north to southwest or south-south to lift their products
There is also the need for the upgrade of Eastern ports and that of north central( Lokoja port) to support the transportation of liquid and solid cargoes via the sea route,which will help reduce the work load on our roads and reduce the rate of the accident caused by bad road or competitiveness among road users
The news minister should look at the port access road. The government generates billions of naira from the ports but it is not paying any attention to the deplorable condition of the access roads. We also expect that he ensures that the cabotage law is implemented and the rehabilitation of the rail system to evacuate cargoes from the ports as well as ensuring that Information Communication Technology (ICT) is made to work in all areas where it has not been keyed. I think that will go a long way in giving us a stressful port environment to work on and also create jobs for our people
We are aware of the fact that his appointment came with a lot of responsibility and he is aware of this but the group believe he will surpass his predecessor,if only he carries the stakeholders along in policy making and formations. It is also expected that he looks into why the cost of doing business at our ports still remains the highest all over the world because we can’t continue to suffer due to bad and unhelpful policy of previous administration. So he will need to synergies with the stakeholders because we are the ones wearing the shoe and we know where it hurts because if he goes to the government agencies, they will never tell him the truth because they are the beneficiaries of all these challenges we are facing today.
The challenges are enormous so also are the expectations but we hope that he will be able to face all these problems headlong and if he must achieve results.
The Minister should work with Nimasa to urgently revamp the our national carrier,we learnt that $50bn has been deposit for the acquisition of ships.
The minister should also look into the plight freight forwarders,these (agents) because they are making a lot of sacrifice to help government generate revenue, so there is need for government to also find a way of helping and compensating them at least in terms of skill acquisition, capacity development and training .
The minister should consider running a night economy in our port,ie 24 operational engagement ,this will help create jobs for the populace,and boast our economy.
Finally the new minister should create an institution(Research center) were all maritime workers,students and other stakeholders,and let it serve as a training
DM.Hills Jr
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