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Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, has assured prospective investors that some levels of port activity would commence at the Agge Deep Seaport in Ekeremor Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, before the terminal date of his administration.
Dickson gave the assurance yesterday while inaugurating a 14-member Project Implementation Committee for the Development of the Agge Deep Seaport in Government House, Yenagoa.
The governor reiterated his administration’s commitment to the take-off of the project, noting that the government has already acquired and surveyed 15,000 hectares of land for the construction of the seaport.
Dickson, who expressed satisfaction with the surveying job done by the Nigerian Army Engineering Corps, however, said his government intends to further engage them to survey another 15,000 hectares for the development of the Agge Port City.
The statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Francis Ottah Agbo, said the governor described the committee as a team of experts and mandated it to advise and monitor the technical developments arising from the project and come up with a realistic time frame of achievable milestones.
“All I want to see before the end of my tenure on February 14, 2020, is that some commercial port-related activities should have started in that seaport. That is why it has become necessary to put this team together.
“Already, a lot of work has been done. But going forward, it is the intention of the government to create a formal platform beyond this team either by way of a state corporation, which will be established by a bill that I intend to send to the State House of Assembly or we get the Agge Seaport Development Company registered as a corporate entity that will run the actual management of the assets of that company,” he said.
The governor expressed optimism that the Federal Government would fulfil its promise of granting all necessary licences for the project and assured the investing public of the security of their lives and investment in the area.
According to the governor, the state government has decided to work closely with all security agencies to build a Forward Operations Base (FOB) to provide a robust security presence in Agge.
Responding, the Chairman of the Project Implementation Committee of the Agge Deep Seaport Development, Captain Warredi Enisuoh, highlighted the benefits associated with the project to include stimulation of socio-economic activities in the state.
Enisuoh, who described the project as one of the best investments of the Dickson-led administration, pledged that the committee would do everything within its reach to actualise its mandate.
Members of the committee include the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Lawrence Ewhrudjakpor, his Lands and Survey counterpart, Kuroakegha Dorgu, and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport, Mr. Ere Efeke.
Others are His Royal Majesty (HRM), King Frank Okoroakpo, Major Lance Anyanya (rtd), Mr. Joseph Ambakederemo, Capt. Suona Offor (rtd) and Mr. Godwin Konyefa as well as representatives of the Nigerian Army, Navy and the Ministries of Trade and Justice, with the Director of Works, Ministry of Works and Infrastructure as the secretary.
