The Minister of Transportation; Mr Rotimi Amaechi and the Maritime Academy of Nigeria in Oron, Akwa Ibom state were conspicuously missing at the much touted public hearing by the House of Representatives Committee on Marine Safety, Education and Administration.
The public hearing which held yesterday was attended by relevant stakeholders in the maritime industry, who had earlier being invited.
Even though it was confirmed that both Minister and the chairman of the management committee of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oro were duly invited by the committee, they did not show up and there was no representation from both the ministry and the academy.
The public hearing was organized by the committee specifically for the Maritime University in Okerenkoko and the upgrade of Maritime Academy of Nigeria in Oron, Akwa Ibom State.
Meanwhile,apparently dissatisfied with the extent of work at its Science and Technical College, Okoloba, Delta State, the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside has threatened to arrest any contractor whose work is either unsatisfactory or not commensurate.
Speaking at yesterday’s public hearing, the DG of NIMASA said all contractors handling various projects at the college have been asked to go back to site.
He also said that if any contractor has issues with payment from the agency, such should come forward and resolve issues.
“We asked all contractors to go back to site if you are being owed, you will definitely be paid and those that have their certificates that earned their certificates have so far been sorted out.
“A few of them that have issues that need to be resolved, we are resolving the issues so all contractors should go back to site, if we discover any contractor that has collected money and has not gone back to site, we will arrest them”, he threatened.
“I know many contractors that have collected money, who do not want to and who we are going to arrest any moment from now
I know many contractors who are on site, I have sent several teams and they all confirmed that the contractors are on site”, he added.
Commending the Director General on its move to arrest erring contractor, Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Mohammed Bago said that NIMASA can go ahead to effect such arrest.
“D.G , I like response to this issue, as part of our responsibility as a committee, we will do our oversight function on NIMASA and summon all the contractors” ,he said.
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