By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) says huge opportunities in the nation’s waterways can be maximised if there are infrastructure and proper funding.
The Managing Director, NIWA, Dr George Moghalu, said this in a statement made available to newsmen in Lagos on Saturday.
Moghalu said this during the facility tour and commissioning of the newly acquired two patrol boats (PB-Gusau and PB-Jalingo) and a 32-seater passenger ferry boat by the Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Sambo, in Port Harcourt.
According to him, infrastructure and funding will make the waterways attractive and competitive to players.
He also said that there was need for a regulatory framework aimed at actualising this, which ultimately would take the cost of providing infrastructure on roads to water at relatively cheaper cost.
“As you may be aware, in less than a year ago, the authority commissioned more than 20 patrol boats and a tugboat, houseboat and water ambulance for distribution to various area offices.
“This is part of the authority’s vision to ensure that the nation’s inland waterways provide a truly safe, efficient, cost effective and alternative mode of transportation of goods and persons as well as become competitive and attractive.
“The vision of the authority is also to make Nigeria, the leader in inland waterways transportation, development and management in Africa, hence the need to ensure the development of infrastructural facilities for a national inland waterways network.
“The network will connect the creeks and the rivers with the economic centres using the river ports as nodal points for intermodal exchange,” he said.
Moghalu noted that consequently, NIWA had licensed several companies for transportation of cargo across the waterways, especially from Lagos and Onne Ports to the hinterlands and vice versa.
“To achieve more of these, the authority is poised to continuously ensure the development of indigenous manpower and provide navigational aids, river training works, wreck surveys and removal, establishment of river gauges.
“Others are construction of jetties, capital and maintenance dredging, establishment of search and rescue stations, river craft certification, training of boat drivers and crew as well as continuous safety sensitisation campaigns.
“As we speak, the sixth batch of training and certification of boat skippers by the authority is ongoing in Lagos. Even expatriates are participating in this training and certification,” he said.