Harboursandport.com: Abuja - The Nigerian Senate yesterday overruled the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) on the cancellation of the Secure Anchorage Area (SAA) being operated by Ocean Marine Services Limited (OMSL) in conjunction with the Nigerian Navy.
The senate
commended OMSL for investing over $400million into the operation of the SAA at
Lagos Anchorage Area.
Recall that the
NPA Managing Director had ordered stoppage of the contract, saying that it does
not encourage ease of doing business, even as she cited issues of national
security.
However,
yesterday, the senate gave its backing to the establishment of the so-called
safe anchorage area (SAA) but called for proper funding of the Nigerian
Navy to enable it procure over 150 vessels needed to undertake their
constitutional responsibilities of securing the country’s territorial waters.
The positions
were taken after the lawmakers considered a report of the Senate joint
committee on Navy, Marine Transport and Finance on the activities of OMSL in
operating the SAA.
In his
presentation, Chairman of the Joint Committee, Senator George Thompson Sekibo,
said the heightening insecurity in the Nigerian waters in 2012, particularly at
the Lagos Ports, led to the establishment of the secured anchorage area.
According to
him, shippers and vessel owners hired a minimum of three armed mercenaries for
security when coming to Nigeria at a minimum of USD$7,500 per day prior to the
establishment of the anchorage area.
He, however,
said findings by the joint committee showed that with the subsequent establishment
of the SAA, users are charged USD$2,500 the first day and USD$1,500
subsequently, an amount far less than what obtained previously.
The lawmaker
disclosed that the major factor that prompted the decision of the Nigerian
Ports Authority to request the storage of the SAA was out of the need to
promote ease of doing business and reduce costs incurred by vessel owners.
He added that
the establishment of the SAA has not contravened the provisions of any national
or international maritime laws ascribed or acceded to by Nigeria.
“The existence
and operation of the SAA cannot in any way be a threat to national security as
it is being operated and supervised by the Nigerian Navy and not by Ocean
Marine Solutions Limited (OMSL).
“The allegation
that the SAA pose a security threat to the country is an indirect indictment on
the Nigerian Navy as it is the one operating on the platforms with the
logistics provided by OMSL,” he said.
The report
disclosed that the Nigerian Navy is in need of 150 patrol boats to fight piracy
and insecurity in the country.
He said two out
of the three patrol boats given to the Nigerian Navy by the Nigerian Ports
Authority (NPA) through NIMASA in 2014 to enhance waterway security are
dysfunctional.
In his remark,
the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, said, “This is a matter for the National
Assembly or government to deal with, because if our Navy is this incapacitated,
it is a big issue for us.
“And it is
unfortunate that we are discussing it in plenary that we have only one
functional ship.
As a giant of
Africa, we should be talking of maybe hundreds of ships. So, this is a
challenge to us, the National Assembly particularly. We have to do something
for the Navy.”
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