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…Assure government of capacity to produce enough boats
From TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
Members of the Marine Crafts Builders Association (MCBA) have called on the Federal Government to extend its palliatives to cushion the effects of subsidy removal to over 50 million Nigerians living in the coastal communities.
The stakeholders have also said they have capacity to take on any challenge from government in the production of numbers of boats needed for effective operations on the waterways.
Director General of the group, Mr. Clem Ifezue, who briefed journalists alongside the Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT), Mr. Frank Orhenere, Kelly Ekeremor and Solomon Beleme, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Friday, said the millions of people living in the coastal areas also need government’s assistance like other Nigerians, particularly in the face of current hardship in the country.
Ifezue said the stretch of waterways in Nigeria is over 10,000 kilometres and second in Africa after Egypt, with over 50 million Nigerians occupying the area with over 300 million economic activities on daily basis.
He said: “The economic activities on this stretch are over 300 million daily. And that is a sector you cannot actually play with. You have over 80 marine boat builders in Nigeria, building local boats, fibre glass and wooden boats.
“The contribution to the GDP is enormous; the forex savings are very enormous; the employment strength in the sector is very enormous. The idea is by the end of the day, Nigerian boats would be exported, so that we can earn forex (foreign exchange) for Nigeria. So, it is a big sector that shouldn’t ordinarily be ignored.
“We have gone through the palliatives proposal of the government and seen what it (government) has in stock for transportation. Government has made pronouncement for 3,000 buses to be procured from local manufacturers in Nigeria. We want to bring the attention of government to it again to see how the riverine communities can be accommodated in their plans.
“We are talking of over 50 millions of Nigerians living in the coastal areas; and not much is being proposed as a way of sourcing palliatives for them. On that stretch, you have people using local boats for their living and to transact businesses.
“Honestly speaking, if the cost of petrol is N750 in the city, it’s about N950 in those communities. And id you translate it to the cost of operations of those boats, you would see that people are paying more on right now from one riverine community to another, likewise their produce to the cities. So, we want government to look at it and see how their palliative programme should cover them (coastal communities).
Speaking further, the Director General said MCBA has the capacity and has been producing boats for several years to serve the needs of the country’s military and paramilitary authorities.
Ifezue continued: “We have the capacity to produce these boats. We have been doing it for years. We have been producing for the Navy, Army, Customs, Immigration and Oil and Gas, for the transportation of goods and services. So, we have the capacity to take on any challenge the government will give us.
“Government has given vehicle assemblers challenge for 3,000 buses in the next three years. I don’t think it is a bad idea if we are given the challenge to produce 1,500 boats that will help alleviate these sufferings of people living in riverine communities.”
The group, however, assured government that it has the capacity to produce any quantity of boats that it might want to use in alleviating the sufferings of Nigerians, particularly those living in the coastal communities.
