The Federal Government last Friday flagged-off the serial dredging of Calabar channel, amidst apprehension that the exercise may go the way of others before it.
At the inauguration, President Goodluck Jonathan acknowledged that the Calabar Port had potential to boost economic activities in Cross River and neigbouring states.
Represented by the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, Jonathan said the dredging of the Calabar channel was a joint venture between the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and Niger Global Engineering.
The Federal Government last Friday flagged-off the serial dredging of Calabar channel, amidst apprehension that the exercise may go the way of others before it.
At the inauguration, President Goodluck Jonathan acknowledged that the Calabar Port had potential to boost economic activities in Cross River and neigbouring states.
Represented by the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, Jonathan said the dredging of the Calabar channel was a joint venture between the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and Niger Global Engineering.
Specifically, it was awarded to a joint venture; Calabar Channel Management Limited (CCM) and Niger Global Engineering Services Limited,
The channel is expected to be used by vessels with 30,000 Gross Registered Tonnage since the metre depth of the channel would be 9.5 metres minimum.
Although the Calabar Port was established in 1979 to improve shipping activities and decongest other sea ports in the country, it has suffered lack of patronage owing largely to its shallow approaches.
The first contract to dredge the channel was first awarded in 1996, a clear 17 years after the port was commissioned for use, by former Head of State General Sani Abacha. The contract was awarded at N3 billion. It was however not executed.
The Calabar channel contract was re-awarded at whooping cost of US$56 million by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2002. It was later abandoned after the US$56 million was reportedly expended on the 84 kiliometres channel without result.
The contract was again, re-awarded in 2006 during the tenure of Dr. Abiye Sekibo as Minister of Transport. The step remains the most controversial in the history of the Calabar channel dredging contract.
A new contract for capital dredging was awarded at the cost of N14billion to Van Oord Limited and Jan de Nul. While Van Oord was to dredge Km 0-46, Jan de Nul was to excavate Km 46-82. Under the contract, the two firms were to either dredge the entire channel to the required eight-metre depth or to scoop out 25million cubic metres of sand out of the 82-kilometre length of the channel.
At the end of the job, it was gathered that the two firms merely scooped 25million cubic metres of sand out of five kilometers of the channel, leaving 77 kilometres un-dredged. The project waa again abandoned.
But at the inauguration on Friday, the President claimed that the Calabar port had improved investment and trade opportunities in Cross River, Anambra, Abia, Enugu and Ebonyi states.
According to him, the port has made Calabar a business hub for trade and shipping activities in the country.
He said “on completion of this dredging, the seaport will witness huge traffic in business activities, thereby facilitating trade and increased revenue for the state.’’
Mr Pieter Hekken, the Acting Managing Director of the Calabar Channel Management Operation, said the dredging came when there was renewed global interest in trade and investment in Nigeria's maritime sector.
Hekken said that the dredging would address the quest by ship owners to have more dedicated ports that would play host to larger and deep drought vessels in international shipping trade.
According to him, the dredging will enable the NPA to develop its channels to promptly respond to global marine transport demands.
“The dredging will ensure safety of navigation, protection of marine environment and expeditious movement of vessels in and out of the ports.
“It will also ensure quick turnaround time and facilitate international shipping.’’
On his part however, Cross Rivers State Governor; Liyel Imoke raised alarm about the futility of dredging the port without good access road, he however said that the dredging of the channel would increase the revenue profile of the state.
Meanwhile, the contractor, handling the new deal has riszen in a stout defence of the process leading to its emergence, amidst speculations that those who lost out in the high-wired deal may go to court.
Reacting to allegations by some firms, which lost out in the bidding process for the contract that due process was not followed in the exercise, a director of Niger Global Engineering Services, Popoola Ayeni has said the award followed due process and was not in contravention of any law.
Ayeni said, the bid process was handled by Mobotek, an international acclaimed consultants based in Holland, in line with international best practices.
He said, about 49 companies participated in the bidding for the contract with the active participation of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) adding that after a rigorous exercise, the best company, which in the instance case, the Calabar Channel Management Limited (CCM) in partnership with Niger Global Engineering Services Limited emerged.
“It is the same consultants that handled the Lagos Channel Management Company and the Bonny Channel Management Company that produced the same process for the Calabar exercise. Our Company passed the financial and technical bids and was duly handed a ‘No Objection’ Certificate by the BPP. It is therefore completely erroneous for anyone to insinuate that Calabar Channel Management (CCM) Limited was not subjected to a pre-qualification test to ascertain its competence as required by the law before being awarded the contract,” Ayeni clarified.
He maintained that contrary to insinuation, his company, Niger Global Engineering Services Limited has been involved in many dredging activities in the country, which it had successfully executed. According to him, the dredging of the Calabar Channel is in partnership with world’s best, Westminster Dredging and Royal Bokalis of Netherlands.
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