Smiles, shock from different ends of River Niger dredging
As we are talking now, fishing activities at the Lokoja end of the river has increased since this portion of the river was dredged. The dredging is ongoing, yet the fish our fishermen catch these days have increased in both size and quantity. We are convinced that when fully dredged, the river will provide our […]
As we are talking now, fishing activities at the Lokoja end of the river has increased since this portion of the river was dredged. The dredging is ongoing, yet the fish our fishermen catch these days have increased in both size and quantity. We are convinced that when fully dredged, the river will provide our people all-year-round fishing opportunity, navigation activities and encourage trade within and outside the country.”
The four-day tour of the full length of the river from Baro in Niger state to Bifurcation in Bayelsa state embarked upon by the Minister a week before the dissolution of the cabinet further confirmed the various ways and manners the river host communities react to the dredging exercise. While the communities in Niger, Kogi, Anambra and Imo states are happy over the ongoing dredging exercise and have welcomed the dredgers to their communities, the communities in Delta and Bayelsa States are continually exploiting the dredging companies by demanding the execution of some projects to the community as a condition for letting them carry on with the dredging exercise.
At Baro in Niger state, for example, the community trooped out in large numbers to welcome the minister and his entourage during the working tour. The community told Alhaji Bio that they had provided government with a large expanse of land for the construction of staff quarters for workers who would operate the inland port at Baro, a port that is already under construction. The Executive Secretary of the Kintako Development Area, Alhaji Jibrin Ndagi said about 15 youths from the community had been employed and trained by the dredging company on dredging work.
He said the community is requesting government to assist with the repair of their faulty boreholes that provides the community with drinking water. The community is also asking for the payment of compensation in respect of the land by the bank of the river Niger that government took over to construct the Baro inland port. While the Minister, Alhaji Bio, authorised the Managing Director of the Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Alhaji Aminu Yar’adua, to commence immediate rehabilitation of the borehole in the town, he said no compensation will be paid to the community in respect of the land because it falls within 100 meters from the bank of the river that NIWA Act authorised government to acquire without paying compensation.
The NIWA boss, Alhaji Aminu Yar’adua, said contract for the dredging of Lot 5 that starts from Baro to Lokoja bridge near Koton Karfe in Kogi state was awarded to William Lloyds Technical Company in December, 2008 at the sum of N3,665,261,250.00. He said in the contract agreement signed between the Federal Government and the contractor, the capital dredging of the river was expected to be completed by June, 2010 while two year dredging work will be done to ensure the effectiveness of the dredging. He said it was estimated that the contractor will excavate 900,000 cubic meters of sand from the river during the period of the capital dredging.
“However, after the dredging work commenced, it was realized that the volume of sand to be excavated from the river was grossly under estimated. Report before us now indicate that there is well over 5 million cubic meters of sand to be excavated from that lot alone. The irony of it is that the job must continue simultaneously or we may not get the required result. We have therefore asked the contractor to go ahead with the work while the appropriate arm of government is handling the issue of payment for the difference that accrue. Meanwhile, we have paid the contractor a total of N712,463,055.83,” he said.
At Lots 3 and 4 that start from the Lokoja bridge to Onitsha in Anambra state, the dredging contract for the two lots were given to Van Oord Nigeria limited. At the lot 4, covering the Lokoja axis, it is estimated that 2,500,000 cubic meters of sand is to be excavated along with 143,250 cubic meters of rocks to be crushed and evacuated from the lot. The dredging contract of the Lot 4 that was awarded at the sum of N12,545,469,550.00 is also to be completed within the same period. He said the sum of N2,409,024,145.19 has so far been paid to the contractor.
At Lot 2 that covers the Niger Bridge at Onitsha to Bifurcation, contract for the dredging of that lot was awarded to Dredging International Service at the sum of N3,889,174,896.00. A total of 700,000 cubic meters of sand is expected to be excavated with no rocks to be crushed. The sum of N893,896,746.47 has so far been paid to the contractor. The contractor has said that the river bank communities that cut across Anambra and Imo states were cooperating fully with him.
But at the lot one that covers Bifurcation to Warri, which cuts across Delta and Bayelsa states, the contractors, Fung Tai Engineering Company, said his company was always under intense pressure from the Niger Delta youths. The chairman and chief executive officer of Fung-Tai Nigeria Limited handling the dredging work at Lot One, Sir Chuks Eze, said he has ordered six dredgers in addition to the one he has been using to enable his company meet up with the completion date of the work. He conducted the minister round the two additional dredgers recently brought by his company to complete work between the Bifurcation and Warri.
“You might have observed that at all the other lots you visited, the companies handling the dredging at those lots are working round the clock. We that are here at the Niger Delta handling the dredging of Bayelsa and Delta states, we know what we are passing through. In the first place, with all the security and soldiers provided to us, we can only be able to work for just nine hours a day. All our foreign partners from China and Israel have refused to come here to the Niger Delta and join us work because of insecurity.
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“Again, you know this is the key to the River Niger. All the water from Baro in Niger state where the dredging starts empties here. We must professionally dredge this lot because it connects the Niger River to the ocean. If we do not do it properly, the required result will not be achieved. It should also be noted that while this is the longest lot with about 150 kilometers in length,” Sir Eze said.
Commenting during an interview, former Transport Minister, Alhaji Ibrahim Isa Bio, said compensation for the lands being used for the construction of inland ports at Baro and some other locations may not be paid because NIWA Act is specific that lands within 100 meters from the inland waterways bank are right of way that cannot be paid for when taken by government. “That is 100 meters from the banks of the river to be the right of way. That is one of the areas we have problems with some communities. Some communities do not understand that NIWA has the right of way 100 meters outside the banks of the river. That is the law. But some communities who farm around that area will claim it is their land and as a result, you must pay compensation. That is not true. In some areas, we consider on humanitarian grounds and for peace to reign, to allow us do our projects and to avoid being very legalistic, we concede.
“In some areas, we go strictly for farm crops or the assets that are within these areas even though we know it is our right of way and they must have encroached. But the fact that there are farms there, we allow them and we pay compensation to these communities. And that is what happened in Oguta (Imo state). In Oguta, there used to be farmlands there and even some properties in that Oguta land and we had to demolish some of these properties and farmlands in order to be able to clear the area. So, compensation was paid to those people (at Oguta). And the Baro area you are talking about, we had series of negotiations and discussions with the communities there because we were faced with the two sites we picked for the residents and the port that falls within the railway line. When we finished the project, it will belong to the railways and the community will also benefit. We have asked them to move the estate to where the community gave them land instead of citing it at the railway area.
“Our fears have been confirmed even by you people. Our fears have been on lots one and five where indigenous contractors are handling. I have called them severally to meetings and pointed out to them that government will not afford to watch this project fail. We have carried out a lot of study and are convinced that when properly dredged, the Niger River will not only serve as a means of providing employment opportunities for our people, but will also contribute immensely to the economic development of both the government and the people doing business in the river. At a point, some people were asking us to terminate the contract with the local contractors and give to foreigners.
“The contractors are here and they know that. But some of us stuck our necks to President Yar’adua and said no, let us also try the local contractors. We mortgaged our credibility and reputation for this people just because they are Nigerian contractors and we feel they equally have a stake. If you don’t build capacity for our people, patronize them. All the two lots with problems are above 50 percent completion. But they need to get more dredgers, more powerful and effective dredgers. Lot 5 has promised me about a month ago while lot 1 now has 3 dredgers that you have seen and he said he will bring in more dredgers. Lot one is very crucial to the success of the whole dredging. If we cannot have access from lot one, even when we finish lots 2, 3, 4 and 5, it will be of no use because it is from lot one that you will have access to the main ports and even the ocean,” he explained.