House of Reps Ad-hoc committee on ports decongestion begins public hearing next week 

 

BY NNAEMEKA ANENE

The House of Representatives is not slowing down in its determined effort to sanitise ports operation in  the country.

To this end, the Ad-hoc Committee set up by the House to “determine why the Warri, Port Harcourt, Onne, Calabar and Onitsha Inland ports complexes are not being put to maximum use” will begin public hearing on Thursday, August 15, 2019.

Civil societies, MDAs, maritime stakeholders, security agencies and other interested members of the public are expected to make submissions at the public hearing which will hold at Room 301 of the National Assembly complex.

It will be recalled that following the adoption of a motion sponsored by Hon. Ifeanyichukwu Anthony Ibezi (APGA, Idemili North and South Federal Constituency) July 18, 2019, the House of Representatives set up a 14-man ad hoc committee with Hon. Baba Yusuf Yakub as its Chairman.

Other members of the committee are Hon. Ifeanyi Ibezi, Hon. Makama Missau Ibrahim, Hon. Onuh Blessing Onyeche, Hon. Haruna Maitala, Hon. Victor Amela, Hon. Nuhu Yakubu Danja, Hon. Aliyu Ibrahim Almustapha, Hon. Alex Egbona, Hon. Akiolu Moshood Kayode, Hon. Kolade Victor Akinjo, Hon. Olayide Adewale Akinremi, Hon. Kalu Benjamin Okezie and Hon. Suny Goli Isreal.

The committee is to seek ways of restoring the full use of Warri, Port Harcourt, Onne, Calabar and Onitsha Inland ports in order to decongest Apapa and Tin Can Island ports, thereby impacting positively on the Federal Government’s ease of doing business policy.

Presenting his motion during the plenary session of the House, Hon. Ibezi had observed that the country had six major sea ports, namely, the Lagos port complex (Apapa), Tin Can, the Calabar port, the Warri port, Port Harcourt port, Onne and the Onitsha Inland port.

He noted that many of these ports had capacity to accommodate ocean liners, but at the moment only the Lagos port complexes were operating at near full capacity, for exportation and importation of goods while the other ports were almost lying fallow.

He said that it was not economically and socially expedient, even in terms of the security of the nation, to concentrate all ports activities of a nation as big and diverse as Nigeria in one geographic area, adding that the continued concentration of all ports activities at the Apapa and Tin Can complexes had resulted in congestion of the two ports, such that it now takes a truck with an authority to load (ATL) between seven to nine days to go in and out of the ports with the loads; a process that used to take a maximum of three hours.

The situation, he said, was worsened by the dilapidation of the 20 Km Apapa Wharf road, due to the numerous container-laden articulated vehicles that ply the road daily to evacuate goods bearing containers.

He was convinced that reviving the existing ports at Warri, Port Harcourt, Onne, Calabar and Onitsha Inland port would require political will and strong policy initiatives and doing this will significantly increase government revenue profile, enhance export/import businesses and reduce the undue pressure on the Apapa and Tin Can ports complexes.

The ad-hoc committee is expected to report back within six weeks with its findings for further legislative action.