Dickson seeks free trade zone status for port city

Preparatory to the commencement of construction work at the state Deep Seaport at Agge in Ekeremor, Bayelsa State Governor has announced the acquisition of about 20,000 hectares of land around the port area, to build a port city.

He also hoped the Federal Government could declare the area ‘a Free Trade Zone’ to facilitate commercial activities when completed.

Dickson said the economy of Bayelsa would be greatly enhanced with the completion of the ongoing Airport project at Wilberforce Island and the seaport at Agge, a statement by his media aide, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, said yesterday.

He explained that the seaport project would commence as soon as paper works and other important details were completed.

According to him, to fully harness the economic potential of the two major projects, it was expedient to have a road linking the airport and the deep seaport to serve as a means of transportation for goods and services to both terminals as a complementary component.

He noted that the critical factor also informed the decision to site both projects on the same axis as well as the completion of the Toru-Ebeni Bridge, which will be very critical to the operations of the air and sea ports.

Dickson said investors from different parts of the world, including Africa, Asia and Europe, had indicated interest in the seaport project.



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