Ibom deep seaport ‘meets required standard’

The Ministerial Project Development and Steering Committee (MPDSC) has commended the Akwa Ibom state government for compliance with all the requirements needed for the establishment of the Ibom Deep Seaport.

A D Suleiman, chairman of the committee, gave the commendation during a meeting with members of the Akwa Ibom State Technical Working Committee for the realisation of the Ibom Deep Seaport at Ibom Hotel and Golf Resort, Uyo.

The chairman explained that the purpose of the meeting was to update members on the progress so far achieved for the Ibom Deep Seaport project.

He said one key factor that necessitated the meeting was to provide an avenue for the adoption of the updated Full Business Case for unward submission to the federal executive council.

Suleiman expressed gratitude to the Akwa Ibom government for the level of commitment shown towards the actualisation of the port, assuring that the project will soon receive final approval from the federal government for commencement of operations.

On his part, Chidi Izuwah, director-general of Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), said with the level of success recorded by the Akwa Ibom State Technical Working Committee on the realization of the Ibom Deep Seaport, it is time to break grounds for take off of the project.

He urged the committee to be target driven in order to achieve the task

Mfon Usoro, chairman, Akwa Ibom State Technical Committee on the realization of Ibom Deep Seaport, affirmed that with the support received from Infrastructural Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Nigeria Port Authority(NPA) and the Federal Ministry of Transportation(FMOT), the Committee has been able to go through all the internationally accepted procurement processes that will lead to the actualisation of the port.

“We have also completed works in the Full Business Case, a part of why we convened today with the Federal Ministry of Finance, ICRC, NPA, and the FMOT, was to agree on work-plan between now and end of first quarter of the year, 2020 so we can have final approval from the Federal Government on the project which is the Full Business Case”. She said.

Usoro disclosed that “the Committee had carefully followed the Federal Government laid down procedures for port development and the process has earned the State a reputable and biggest terminal operator in Africa with the Bollore Power China Consortium as the preferred bidder”.

She emphasized the need for them to acquire and upgrade themselves in the requisite skills that would be needed during construction and operations of the port.