Kasim Sumaina in Abuja
In a bid to shore up its revenue base and block leakages, the federal government has directed that no private jetty should operate in the country without authorisation from relevant government agencies.
The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi, made this known yesterday at the presentation of a Compendium on Private Jetties in Nigeria by members of the Presidential Standing Committee on Private Jetties (PSCPJ) in Abuja.
Amaechi in a statement issued by the Director of Press, Ministry of Transportation, Mr. Eric Ojiekwe, applauded the committee for its effort, urging it to do more as its report indicates that illegal jetties still abound despite government efforts to curb the menace.
Speaking on the next step, Amaechi said: “We will see how we can summarise the report and present it to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to look at it so that each minister can have a copy.”
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, said: “I want to thank you so much for the hard work you have done to present this compendium, but at the same time, I will like to request that you give us a copy of the executive summary because it would be impossible to take this report to FEC. So you will complete your job by giving us an executive summary.”
Earlier, the acting Chairman, Technical Sub-Committee, Presidential Standing Committee on Private Jetties, and General Manager, Marine Services, National Inland Waterways (NIWA), Joseph Ororo, in his remark, disclosed that that was the first time the activities and data resulting from the work of the committee would be compiled since its inauguration 17 years ago.
According to him, “This compilation encapsulates the standard operational procedure/guidelines for intending and existing jetty operators in the country.”
Speaking further, Ororo said the work of the sub-committee has contributed immensely to the increased revenue generation of agencies such as NIWA, Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), and Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) among others.
Similarly, Ororo pointed out that other derivatives from the work of the committee is that multi-national companies are no more willing to engage any jetty facility in business if such does not possess valid licence duly approved by the chairman of the PSCPJ.
The highlight of the event was the formal presentation of the 806-page report to the minister by the Secretary of PSCPJ, Dr. Stella Maduka, who stated that the work was an in-depth research on private jetties in the country, and prayed that it serves the purpose.
The report presentation had in attendance representatives from the Nigeria Navy, NCS, NPA, NIMASA, NIWA, NNPC, Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Security, Dangote Group, Office of the Secretary to the Government of Federation (SGF) among others.
