Residents of Idah town, headquarters of Idah local government area of Kogi State, have called on the federal government to release funds for the completion of a Jetty project which was intended to aid all-round navigation across the waterways.
North Central Trust reports that the Idah Jetty project was contemplated during the late Umaru Yar’Adua’s administration but non release of funds had consistently stalled its progress.
It was learnt that the original idea was to establish a river port in the town and the initiative was said to have been part of the original master plan of the River Niger dredging.
Mr Odiba Anaja, one of the elders of the town, said they had anticipated that the port project would have been on the stream but were surprised that Baro was considered after an earlier attempt to move it to Agenebode in Edo State.
“When we learnt of the attempt to move the port to the Agenebode side of the River Niger, we protested and made our position known to the then minister of transportation who assured that the move will be stopped,” he explained.
He said that there was an appreciable progress on the jetty project but stopped at some point, adding that from the inquiries it was discovered that funds were not released to the contractor handling the project to complete the job.
He said with the new commitment by the federal government to boost water transportation and ease congestion at the Lagos port along with the opening up of the Onitsha port, there is need to hasten the completion of the jetty.
Also, Malam Amodu Odoma said from his interaction with high ranking officials of the firm handling the project, works have already reached about 90 percent completion, adding that the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) officials who have been in rented accommodation have moved to one of the facilities.
According to him, the completion of the remaining percentage is being stalled by bureaucratic bottlenecks, while calling on the federal government to act urgently on the matter.
However, NIWA through the Acting General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Malam Jibril Darda’u said the federal government is committed to completing all projects in the ongoing effort transform marine transportation .
He said NIWA’s the MD/CEO Dr George Moghalu has visited ongoing projects, assessed the situation and is working with the mother ministry to ensure their completion.
He said the jetty project has progressed well and is enjoying the commitment of the federal government to putting it to use soon.
