Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has said no revenue should be expected from the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) because its mandate was to act as a regulator of maritime safety and security.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Minister stated this at the final session of the 5-day National Council on Transportation (NCT), held in Kano State, Northern Nigeria, according to the statement made available by the Ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Eric Ojiekwe.
“People put NIMASA under pressure that they must make money; make money for what, NIMASA actually is a regulatory authority, not for them to go and look for money,” NAN quoted Amaechi to have said.
“The people that should be making money and they must hear it now is the Nigeria Ports Authority. It is their responsibility to make money.
”NIMASA should therefore focus on being a regulatory authority on issues of safety and security of our waterways.”
Amaechi, while speaking on the Dala Inland Dry Port, noted that the Federal Government would not commission the project until the concessionaire completes a primary school offering free education to the many out-of-school children in the area.
“I want NSC to note this because that’s the agreement we had with the concessionaire,” he said.
”Shippers’ council can charge whatever you want to charge for the dry port but part of the profit that they make in the dry port will go to the upbringing of those children.”
The Minister further expressed concern over the failure to convene the NCT for the past three years due to the economic downturn and advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He expressed optimism that critical decisions bordering on transportation would be addressed at the summit.
“Transportation is essential to sustainable development as it enables access to employment, business, education, health services and social interactions,” he said.
”The prosperity and wellbeing of developing and developed world are inseparably linked to transport.
”As such, President Muhammadu Buhari has made issues relating to transportation, one of the topmost priorities of his administration.”
