By Godwin Oritse
THE non-passage of the Maritime Security Bill currently before the upper Chamber of the National Assembly has stalled the Coastal Maritime Surveillance System (COMAROSS), project meant to further secure the Nigerian waterways.

Besides, the COMAROSS has also gone comatose as most of the installed radars and other equipment meant for the project are currently rotting away at various sites across the country.

The Coastal Maritime Surveillance System is an innovation of the International Maritime Organisation to create a domain awareness for its members.

Already, N44 billion so far invested in the project may go down the drain if the bill remains with National Assembly and the nation’s local maritime trade will continue to suffer attacks from pirates and sea robbers.

Currently, the lack of fund to continue the project has posed a major set back for the project following the refusal of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Nigerian National Petroleum Coropration, NNPC, and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, to release fund to the Presidential Implementation Committee in Maritime Security and Safety (administrators of the COMAROSS project).

Sources close to NIMASA told Vanguard that the radar sites were part of the COMAROS project.
Sources close to PICOMMSS told Vanguard that the Nigerian Maritime Administrative and Safety Agency, NIMASA, the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, who are suppose to fund PICOMMSS have not been forthcoming in releasing funds to the Committee.
The sites are presently secured by men of the Nigerian Navy who take turns to ensure that what is left of the place are not vandalised.

Meanwhile, the absence of a well coordinated marine security programme has put the nation’s waters on a very precarious situation such that foreign ship owners have had to increase freight rates to cover up for any eventuality.

The porous nature of the Nigerian coastal waters prompted the National Assembly to constituted an ad hoc Committee on marine security which raised alarm over the insecurity of the nation’s maritime environment.

It was gathered that NIMASA is meant to make 10% of PICOMMSS funding, NNPC 80% and NPA another 10% for the said COMAROS project.

It was, however, learnt that NIMASA paid its last counterpart funding in 2006 leaving the Committee in arrears of three years.For NPA, Mr. Illya Musa told Vanguard that he was not aware of such funding of PICOMMSS by the port authority.