By Chidubem Anthony
There are renewed hopes that the installation of cargo handling equipment at the Baro River Port would be concluded before 2019 as the Managing Director of National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Sen. Olorunnimbe Mamora, has directed the fixing of the access road to enable the contractor return to site.
To this end, Mamora, who spoke during his inspection of facilities at the port, assured the contractor that the agency would reconstruct the bad portion of the access road within two weeks for easy movement of equipment and personnel.
The representative of First Index Project and Service Ltd – the handling company, Mr. Opeyemi Olabanji, had explained that the recent flood and the bad access road to the facility delayed the installation, according to a statement from the NIWA General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Eyitayo Fadile.
In another development, Mamora expressed displeasure at the state of some facilities at the port, including the administrative block, water treatment plant, power plant house and security post, and summoned the builder back to site for repairs, while pledging to improve the welfare of the policemen attached to the port for better performance.
Meanwhile, receiving the traditional head of Baro, Mallam Mohammed Salihu Ndanusa, he thanked the community for supporting the contractors and other stakeholders in their work and appealed for continued support in securing the facility as major beneficiaries when it becomes operational, a request Ndanusa accepted.
PHOTO CAPTION: NIWA Managing Director, Sen. Olorunnimbe Mamora (right), in a handshake with the traditional head of Baro, Mallam Mohammed Salihu Ndanusa, during the NIWA team’s inspection of facilities at the Baro Inland Port…Tuesday