Law for Ports Concessioning Soon - BPE
By Francis Ugwoke and Bukola Akande
The law to empower the Federal Government to concession the nation's seaports will soon be passed, the Director-General of the Bureau on Public Enterprise (BPE), Dr. Julius Bala, has said.
Leading members of the Committees on Marine Transport and Privatisation from the National Assembly, including Labour leaders, on a tour of the ports at the weekend, Bala said the Bureau was on course to fulfill every requirement in the concessioning programme.
Bala who said that govrnment was determined to execute the concessioning exercise explained that the purporse of the tour was to enable all parties see the various ports and facilities slated for reform.
"This is to prepare all of us towards reforming the port", he said.
Bala disclosed that the BPE will lead the law makers and Labour leaders to a tour of other international ports where the planned concessioning has been introduced to see ports that have undergone similar reform.
Naming Mexico as one of the the preferred countries to visit, the BPE boss explained that such visit will enable the law makers put final touches to the law on port concessioning.
He gave an indication that the bill on Ports Concessioning will be passed to the National Assembly after the tour of international ports.
In Mexico, he said that members of the National Assembly will meet their counterparts who will offer useful advice that will aid the law makers on the planned port law.
Bala said that President Olusegun Obasanjo has given his approval for all government agencies to work together for the success of reform process.
Speaking during the visit, Chairman, Senate Committee on Marine Transport, Dr. Ugochukwu Uba, who assured of the support of the Senate in the exercies, however, said that for the reform to be successful, the welfare of the workers must be addressed.
According to him, the Senate will not be a party to any arrangement that will see Labour being shortchanged.
Chairman of the House Committee on Marine Transport, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, who equally gave the support of the House of Representatives said that the only way Nigeria can move forward was by bringing in private investors to participate in all sectors of the economy, particularly the ports industry.
Ihedioha told the BPE boss to ensure that it takes the law makers along in the concessioning programme, adding, "we are interested in understanding everything".
The Secretary General of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, (MWUN) Comrade Aham Ubani, was of the view that the BPE will do better if Labour was involved in the process.
Ubani explained that Labour gave 21-day ultimatun earlier because it was not being carried along, warning that it will resist any action of the government which relegates to the background issues concerning workers.
He warned against government taking any decision in advance of a committee that was set up recently to look into workers' issue.
"Let government try to deceive us by taking decision in advance before the committee will finish its work. If this happens, we shall say that we are fellow Nigerians", he said.
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