The Senate on Monday commenced a public hearing to amend the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) Acts.
The upper chamber of the National Assembly assured stakeholders that it would set performance benchmark for NPA in accordance with global best practices.
President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, while declaring open a public hearing on amendment of the NIWA and NPA Acts organised by the Senate Committee on Marine Transport, lamented that Nigeria was losing huge revenue to inefficiencies in the Nigerian maritime sector.
Saraki, who was represented by the Deputy Minority Whip, Senator Philip Tanimu Aduda, said that the nation’s marine sector had fallen short of meeting the needs of water transportation system.
“The 8th Senate will take time to create enabling laws for private sector participation and NIWA must be part of Nigeria’s agencies that generates revenues for economic growth,” he said.
The Chairman of the committee, Senator Ahmed Rufai Sani, expressed optimism that the marine transport would be part of Nigeria’s quest for economic recovery.
He said, “With the concession of the port terminals in 2016, the Nigerian Ports Authority is no longer in active participation in the day-to-day running of ports in Nigeria. We will set benchmark and give adequate legal backing.”
Sani also said the proposed amendment would be geared towards huge revenue generation and creation of jobs.
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.