Relocation of Ibom Deep Sea Port Not Political, Says Consultant
The Felak Concepts Limited (FCL) has declared that relocation of the Ibom Deep Sea Port (IDSP) from Okposo to Ibeno was not political but based on professional and engineering decisions.
A statement that was issued by the Spokesperson to the FCL, Mr. Ezekail Adamu, explained that the essence of the project that was initiated by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Akwa Ibom State Government as a full scale Greenfield Commercial Deep Sea Port Development in line with the proposed Ibom Industrial City (IIC) was too strategic to be subjected to politics.
Adamu stated that the selection process was subjected to high level transparency as evidenced in all the technical reports submitted.
He said: “We did not influence or manipulate the relocation of the ports from Okposo to Ibeno.
“The relocation of the $4.6 billion Ibom Deep Sea Port (IDSP) from Okposo to Ibeno is not political but based on professional and engineering decisions, says Felak Concepts Ltd, the Transaction Advisor/Consultants to the IDSP and Free Trade Zone project.”
He further explained that five locations were initially shortlisted for the mega-project expected to provide no fewer than 300,000 jobs.
“Out of the five locations, Okposo was selected as the site at the preliminary stage based on initial/ preceding studies for the Initial Due Diligence (IDD), which itself was subjected to further studies and research to ascertain its suitability,” he said.
The consultant explained that this was in tune with global best practices for projects of this magnitude and nature as all the characteristics and parameters were considered to arrive at and make a fully founded location selection in the Final OBC/PPF document.
“The State Government through a selective bid tendering process engaged the FCL and her Technical Partners, MTBS of Netherlands with clear schedule and terms of reference towards the realization of the development of the Ibom Deep Sea Port (IDSP).
“The Federal Ministry of Transport was duly notified of our appointment and they swiftly inaugurated the already constituted Ministerial Project Development and Steering Committee (MPDSC) and the Project Delivery Team to midwife/drive the process, as well as direct the TA/Consultants in their deliverables in line with the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) guidelines,” the statement said.
The statement added that the team commenced work and ensured the Initial Due Diligence Report for the IDSP and Free Trade Zone was ready by January 2013.
“The goal and objective of this report was to carefully assess the project, verify its feasibility/viability and design a structural approach for the subsequent phases. In other words, the IDD was a preliminary report covering the location analysis of the pre-selected locations, development options for the Port and Free Trade Zone, implementation plan, and preliminary business case among others,” he said.
Adamu explained that none of these is a political decision but basic engineering, economic and other professional considerations.
He said that though the initial name was Ibeno Deep Sea Port, it is now Ibom Deep Sea Port to “depict an all-inclusive project for the entire state.”
Adamu said that the consultant wrote a letter dated October 3, 2015, to Akwa Ibom State Government “on the need to convene an immediate town hall meeting involving the TAs, Surveyors, MPDSC members, the Governor, his executive committee and all stakeholders within the state on the resolution of salient communal issues; such as the clarification and basis of the change of name from Ibaka to Ibom Deep Sea Port, change of location due to a new engineering alignment and other critical factors and analysis.”
The total cost of construction of the IDSP is $4.6 billion but the first phase of it is $2.016 billion, which was approved on Wednesday, December 16, 2020, by the federal government.
