Oluyinka Onigbinde
Barge operators operating in the nation’s maritime industry have said that they are ready to begin pilot operations of cargo movement from the Lekki Deep Seaport, ahead of the planned commercial take off of operations at the port in September 2022.
President of the Barge Operators Association of Nigeria (BOAN); Mr Bunmi Olumekun, in a recent chat with our correspondent disclosed that members of the group will begin pilot operations to determine the kind of vessels that will operate at the port when it begins commercial operations.
He said members of the association have visited the deep seaport and are ready to carry out pilot operations to avoid casualty or losses when commercial operations finally begin at the port.
He said: “We have done our visiting and we have seen it by ourselves. So the next step we are taking is to see how we’re going to do a pilot test. We want to do the pilot test before then, so that we can know exactly what we’re talking about. We’re absolutely ready and I can tell you that our members are ready. We are ready. We are working in collaboration with the NPA to see how the project is going to be a success”.
Speaking on whether his members have the required barges expected to operate at the port he said, “that is exactly what I’m trying to explain now. We have two type of barges. We have sea-going barges and creek barges. So when we are talking about Lekki operations, it is going to be sea-going barges and those barges are what we will examine.
“We are going to be fully involved so that we will monitor all those barges that will come there in order to avoid any casualty or any loss of goods. So we are going to make sure that at stage one, we are going to inspect and regulate it ourselves and see exactly the type of barges coming to load.
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“We are going to synergies with Customs and NPA, so we are going to see how that operation will be a success but I can tell you we are fully ready. I will communicate that to you when we want to begin the pilot test” he said.
Also in a chat with our correspondent a member of the association; Hajia Bola Muse, said the members are ready to begin operations, this is even as she informed that only licensed registered members of the association will be allowed to operate at the deep seaport when it begins operation.
She also debunks claims that many of the barges currently in use are not fit to operate at the deep seaport, she said about 80% of the barges will be needed at the port when operations begin owing to the state of the road leading to the port.
“We are ready, because we know that due to the comatose state of the road, about 80% of the barges that we have presently are going to be needed there.
I wonder where they got the statistics that over 60% of the barges are substandard. I wouldn’t say all of them are up to standard, but the statistics that over half of the barges on our waters are substandard is a big lie, because we have people who license barge operators, and it is NPA and before you can say you are a barge operator you need to get everything certify and even the barge you intend to work with they will verify and that is why only licensed members will be allowed to operate at Lekki when commercial operations take off”, she said.
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