Underutilised Seaports Denying Rivers Economic Prosperity – Fubara

Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has lamented the economical losses suffered by the authorities and the federation owed to the underutilisation of the Port Harcourt and Onne seaports, informing that unless their capacities are afloat harnessed, Rivers State and Nigeria volition proceed to miss retired connected jobs, investments, and concern growth.

Governor Fubara made this presumption known connected Monday erstwhile helium received a delegation of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Board and Management, led by its Chairman, Senator Adeyeye Adedayo Clement, connected a courtesy sojourn to Government House, Port Harcourt.

He emphasised that seaports are indispensable to nationalist development, pointing retired that galore prosperous nations had relied connected world-class ports and airports to powerfulness their economies. Fubara noted that contempt Rivers State’s strategical vantage of hosting 2 large ports, its imaginable remained untapped.

He explained that if Onne Port operated astatine afloat capacity, the ripple effects connected the surrounding areas, specified arsenic Eleme and Tai, would beryllium transformative. Such a improvement would thrust employment, stimulate manufacturing, grow clearing and forwarding services, and boost economical enactment crossed the state.

The Governor maintained that maximising the ports would little logisticscosts, fortify capitalist confidence, and pull industries that trust connected proximity to export facilities. He added that the resulting maturation would chopped crossed occupation creation, concern expansion, and accrued taxation revenues.

Fubara besides pointed retired that Rivers State enjoys a comparatively peaceful environment, peculiarly nether his administration, which has worked to foster stableness and pull investments. He contrasted this with different states wherever larboard activities are often disrupted by assemblage disputes, stressing that Rivers maintains smoother practice among big communities, the government, and the NPA.

Regarding infrastructure, the politician identified the dilapidated national roads starring to the ports arsenic a superior challenge. He said the mediocre authorities of the roads has led to flooding and postulation congestion, and called connected the Federal Government to prioritise their rehabilitation. While recognising that specified roads autumn nether national jurisdiction, helium assured that his medication would complement national efforts done improved postulation management, amended regularisation of motortruck drivers, and the enforcement of bid astir larboard areas.

He further pledged to fortify information successful the larboard situation by facilitating the constitution of a constabulary presumption wrong the facilities. The Governor linked insecurity to unemployment, noting that a afloat functional larboard strategy would people trim transgression by providing alternate opportunities for young people.

Fubara condemned backstage individuals’ encroachment of larboard lands, informing that specified practices undermine aboriginal development. He requested that the NPA supply broad reports of specified encroachment truthful the authorities authorities could intervene appropriately.

He besides attributed overmuch of the flooding astir the ports to the mediocre information of the entree roads and inadequate drainage. He promised that erstwhile occupation areas were identified, his medication would collaborate with the NPA connected remedial works.

The Governor commended the NPA Board for engaging with the authorities authorities earlier embarking connected involution projects, noting that specified collaboration would guarantee sustainability and assemblage acceptance. He urged the Board to prehend the existent infinitesimal to revitalise the seaports to go genuine engines of maturation alternatively than neglected facilities.

In his remarks, Chairman of the Board Senator Adeyeye Adedayo Clement thanked Governor Fubara for his lukewarm reception and described Nigeria’s litoral states arsenic richly endowed with marine assets that tin thrust economical prosperity. He assured the NPA Board was committed to optimising operations astatine the Port Harcourt and Onne ports.

He besides sought the authorities government’s enactment successful addressing cardinal challenges specified arsenic rehabilitating entree roads, controlling amerciable motortruck parking, improving biology sanitation, and establishing a constabulary station to bolster information wrong the larboard precincts.