The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Hadiza Usman, on Thursday said all terminal operators must comply with the terms of port concession agreements and must pay directly to the NPA.
Usman gave the directive while fielding questions from newsmen in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
She said all revenue must go into the Treasury Single Account, adding that the NPA would vigorously pursue the collection of all outstanding payments by the terminal operators and other operators in the industry.
Usman said: “All payment will be made directly to NPA and NPA will reconcile the payments.”
She said that NPA would review all concession agreements.
Usman further said: “We need to appreciate where we find ourselves today and take immediate decisions.”
On midstream discharge, she said that the management “is looking at safe anchorage”.
She said that the management had seen the state of infrastructure in Rivers and Onne Ports, saying that the NPA would invest money into infrastructure only owned by it.
She said: “We lease out lands to the developers in the Eastern ports but we are not able to ensure that the developers take possession of the lands.”
Usman, however, maintained that new security measures were being discussed as part of the priority areas of the management, adding that new access cards to the ports would be issued.
Usman noted that the current port access card was not sufficient to guarantee effective security in the ports.
According to her, there should be one standard certification of access to the ports and this can be conducted through biometric data.
She said that the priority of the management was good governance and transparency in the operations of the organisation.
Usman also stated: “Pricing should be transparent for everybody to see.
“We are also looking at competition of operations and financing.”
The Managing Director, however, assured that the NPA would not continue charging people for services it did not provide.
Trending
- Tariff hike: Falana backs picketing of DISCO offices, says NERC didn’t follow due process
- NLC, TUC storm Ikeja, Ibadan DisCos over electricity tariff hike
- NANS decry UniAbuja ASUU strike, says it lacks regards for education system
- UN Nigeria partners Sterling One Foundation to co-convene ASIS 2024
- Taxing hunger in Iregba, by Lasisi Olagunju
- Rivers Hoopers finish BAL with best team record despite loss
- NNPC E&P, NOSL hit first oil in OML 13
- Cybersecurity Levy: Killing the masses softly, by Kazeem Akintunde