Our Inland Waterways are Under Utilised, says Amaechi
Oru Leonard
The Minister of Transportation in Nigeria, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi has said that the Nigerian Inland waterways is under utilised.
Amaechi stated this in a television program on Tuesday, September 17, 2019, “For me, I don’t think that port construction at the inland waterways is the solution for now. We have done quite a lot; Onitsha, Baru, Lokoja River ports are ready and are still under-utilised.”
He said that there was also the need to do capital dredging and maintenance dredging on the waterways and see how many people would be encouraged to move their goods by water, adding that this would create more employment.
To do that, he added that money could be provided from the budget to buy more vessels and provide inland water services in Lagos, from Victoria Island, for instance, to Apapa which he said would help reduce the road traffic gridlock in the area and refocus on safety.
The minister also stated that government needed to focus more on cargo tracking, stressing that he was embarrassed at the last maritime stakeholders’ meeting when almost all the stakeholders were hammering on tracking. To this end he revealed that he will try to present the cargo tracking issue to the cabinet for deliberations and approval.
On the management of waterways, the Minister noted that the Lagos State government does not have any right on the Nigerian inland waterways, but was only filling the vacuum the federal government created then, arguing that the constitution is clear on the issue and that the law is clear on the ownership structure.
“The law is very clear about the responsibility of management of waterways. So, why does the Lagos State government want to take it from NIWA?
“The court had ruled that the federal government must go back to claim that responsibility.” he said
