Maritime stakeholders have called on the Federal Government to urgently dredge Calabar Port to boost efficiency.
The Managing Director of Ecomarine Terminals, Dayo Balogun, said that the dredging of Calabar Port would greatly benefit the country’s economy.
Balogun further stated that the dredging of the Calabar Port would help to properly feed importers from the southeast and other regions of the country.
“Calabar is currently the closest port to the Northeast, making it strategically positioned for economic activities. Unfortunately, Douala in Cameroon has as its primary market the northeastern part of Nigeria. Consequently, cargo passing through Douala results in revenue leakage from Nigeria to Cameroon.
“The cost and inconvenience endured by importers in these regions to retrieve containers from Lagos underscore the potential gains of investing in Calabar’s dredging,” Balogun said.
Meanwhile, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko, had affirmed that though the contract for the dredging of the Calabar channel had been awarded many years ago, the litigation between the NPA and the contractor handling the project had stalled the project.
Bello-Koko revealed that the Federal Government had, however, initiated an out-of-court settlement with the contractor.
