A maritime expert, Barrister Akpan Umoh has accused losers in the bidding
\nprocess for the dredging of Calabar Channel for consistently sponsoring
\nnegative publicity against the project.<\/p>\n
Reacting specifically to recent media reports to the effect that the
\nNigerian Ports Authority (NPA) had authorized the payment of $35m (about
\nN7billion) to Calabar Channel Management Limited, the Calabar-based
\nMaritime expert wondered why the losers have relentlessly wedged a media
\nwar against the dredging of the Calabar Port and \u201ccreating a picture of
\ncontroversy in the project where none exists\u201d.<\/p>\n
Umoh told journalists in Calabar yesterday that as critical stakeholders
\nin the Calabar Port project, they had carried out discreet investigation
\ninto the entire bidding process for the dredging of the Channel and
\ndiscovered that \u201cthe entire contract followed due process, obtained all
\nthe necessary approvals and vetting of the agreement\u00a0 by the Office of the
\nAttorney General of the Federation (AGF) before its execution\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said the stakeholders would resist any attempt to thwart the project
\nwhich is \u201cvery strategic to the economic development of Nigeria
\nparticularly the North- Central, South-South and South- East regions of
\nthe country\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn addition, when functional, it will increase the volume of vessel
\ntraffic and cargo throughput in the port, decongest Lagos ports and reduce
\ncost of doing business for Calabar-based businessmen who spend additional
\ntransport cost to take delivery of their consignments in Lagos and Onne
\nports and as such we will defend the project with the last pint of our
\nblood until it is actualized\u201d, the expert stated.<\/p>\n
He said rather than support and encourage the joint venture company
\nbetween Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and a consortium of companies led by
\nMessrs Niger Global Engineering and Technical Company Limited, for the
\ndredging of the Calabar Port which has not been paid a dime but has
\nmobilized to site and made tremendous\u00a0 progress, \u201cthose against the
\nproject have instead mounted stiff negative campaign to frustrate it\u201d.<\/p>\n
According to him, \u201cthough CCM has not been paid it is gladdening to note
\nthat it is presently carrying out capital and maintenance dredging of the
\nwater channel well known for its shallow draught that has hampered bigger
\nvessels from coming into the port in the last decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo far, CCM has deployed dredgers, survey vessels, buoyage tender, wreck
\nremoval cranes and other ancillary marine crafts to the water channel for
\nits operation and was concentrating on spots in the channel critical to
\nnavigation which so far, 16.3 kilometers out of the envisaged 84kilometers
\nto be dredged\u201d.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, investigations reveal that contrary to the falsehood been
\nbandied by those against the project, the removal of the immediate past
\nManaging Director of NPA, Mallam Habib Abdullahi\u00a0 has nothing to do with
\nthe project.<\/p>\n
An insider at the NPA told our correspondent that the former MD was sacked
\nfor other misdemeanors and not for the Calabar Channel project as \u201cIt was
\nhe who signed the contract and supervised the appointment of consultants
\nand technical auditors for the project. All the project board meetings for
\nthe two years that the project was signed were chaired by Mallam Habib
\nAbdullahi.So why could he have been removed for a project that he was so
\nmuch involved in?\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the insider, one of the Joint Venture Companies (JVCs) which
\nwas to benefit from the Calabar dredging project if\u00a0 it was not awarded to
\nthe Niger Global Consortium, is also believed to be behind the campaign of
\ncalumny against the project. He said there is nothing wrong with paying
\nthe contractors for the work done as it followed due process and the
\nagreement duly approved and signed.<\/p>\n
He cautioned against exposing civil servants to unnecessary politics and
\nblackmail in the discharge of their duties.<\/p>\n
It would be recalled that the contract for the project was\u00a0 signed in 2013
\nwhile on November 17, 2014, immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan
\nflagged off the operations of Calabar Channel Management (CCM),through the
\nthen Minister of Transport Alhaji Idris Umar.
\nThe four channels in the country were properly advertised for at the same
\nbid and Consultant and the award of the contract followed due process.
\nThe bid process for CCM was handled by Mobotek, an international acclaimed
\nconsultants based in Holland in line with international best practices.
\nDuring the process, 49 companies bid for the contract with the active
\nparticipation of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) which\u00a0 after a
\nrigorous exercise, the best company which in the instance case, the Niger
\nGlobal Engineering Consortium of companies emerged.
\nMobotek is the same consultant that handled the Lagos Channel Management
\nCompany, the Bonny Channel Management Company and Calabar Channel
\nManagement Company through the same bid process.
\nConsequently, the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) duly certified and
\nissued \u2018No Objection\u2019 Certificate before the contract was consummated.
\nThe consortium of companies dredging the Calabar Channel led by Messrs
\nNiger Global is made up of Boskalis of Holland, world number one dredging
\ncompany, West Minister Dredging, a global leader in dredging in the
\nindustry and others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A maritime expert, Barrister Akpan Umoh has accused losers in the bidding process for the dredging of Calabar Channel for consistently sponsoring negative publicity against the project. Reacting specifically to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n