House Want Ferry Services To Resume In Niger Delta

ABUJA, January 18, (THEWILL) - The House of Representatives Wednesday mandated the Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority [NIWA] to resume ferry services in the Niger Delta region where most economic activities are marine based.
 
The House further urged the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency [NIMASA] to increase the number of emergency rescue patrol boats, monitor the waterways and ensure that ferries and boats operating in the country especially in the Oron area comply with safety standards and maintain manifests of all marine passengers.
 
The resolution came on the heels of a motion titled “Neglect of marine transport and its consequences on commerce and tourism in Nigeria, brought by Hon. Robinson Uwak.
 
It consequently mandated its committee on marine transport to monitor the activities of NIWA and NIMASA to ensure the execution of the House resolutions.
 
Uwak had during the debate observed that the Calabar-Oron-Cameroun, Oron-Equatorial Guinea-Gabon-Sao Tome and Principe rout, remains the most effective means of conveying agricultural produce and other commercial goods to and from the Eastern, Northern and Western parts of the Nigeria, as well as other countries to the east f Nigeria.
 
Similarly, the House also directed the federal ministry of works to use the engineering designs for the construction of the Buruku Bridge in Benue state as awarded in 2005 and recaptured in the 2009 Budget and award the contract for the construction of the bridge.
 
The decision was taken following a motion sponsored by Hon. Emmanuel Orker-Jev (ACN, Benue), who disclosed that in 2005 an allocation of N300 million was made in the federal government budget and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) subsequently approved and awarded a contract for the engineering design of the Buruku bridge.
 
He said, “In 2006, an allocation of N403 million was allocated in the Appropriation Act for the rehabilitation of KatsinaAla-Zaki-Biam- Buruku Road by the Buruku Bridge was not captured in the budget of that year.
 
“The Buruku bridge project made an appearance in the 2007 Appropriation without any allocation or vote; and in 2008 the project was not even captured in the budget.
 
“The 2009 budget again allocated N50 million for the Engineering Design of the bridge and Approach Roads over River Katsina-Ala at Buruku in Benue state, and is worrisome that this project was not captured in the 2010 and 2011 Appropriation Acts.”