Your jobs are intact, NPA MD assures staff

The management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) is not planning to retrench staff, Hadiza Usman, managing director of the organisation, has said.

Speaking during a tour of Warri Port in Delta state, Usman revealed that the management even has the intention to recruit more staff.

She disclosed that NPA’s general manager, human resources, had been tasked to bring up ideas in this regard.

Usman also said the management would take remedial measures so as not to allow ships to be grounded at the Escravos breakwaters due to high siltation.

She suggested that emergency remedial measures should be put in place to ensure that no vessel runs aground.

Earlier, Simeon Okeke, manager of Warri Port, highlighted the dangers posed by the breakwaters and the channels leading to the port due to high siltation.

He said the absence of vital buoys made navigation difficult, resulting to situations when vessels go aground.

The port manager also lamented that the right vessels were not coming into Warri Port because of the shallow nature of the berths.

Okeke suggested dredging and mooring of the channels of Warri Port as well as the removal of wrecks.

He said more manpower should be recruited into the various departments.

The port manager also talked about the problem of encroachment of port land and litigation, recommending a review of port tariffs and restructuring.

“The port needs intensive promotion to give the correct image as well as the complete rehabilitation of the facilities in the port,” he said.

Emmmanuel Adesoye, chairman of the board of NPA, advised the organisation to carry out corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Adesoye also urged the management to do physical development of the communities around them.