By Godwin Oritse
A group, under the aegis Concern Citizens of South South has condemned the way  in which  foreign dredging firms have haggling over the dredging of the Calabar River channel, a development which  they described as a goldmine for corrupt foreigners.

In a statement, the group’s President Mazi Tony Ohakwe said ” some of the foreign contractors who were given the job who performed below expectation and are jostling for the same contract”.

Ohakwe noted that these foreigners have become so desperate such that they have resorted to intimidation, blackmail and all kinds of measures to ensue that they get the job.

He disclosed that one the bidders Jan de Nul had dredged the Calabar port in the past but  fell out  with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), who was not too impressed with the work they did.

The South South  group President also stated that the maritime sector in the Southern part of the country has suffered a setback because of the shallow draft of the waters adding that  the job should be given to best qualified contractor with technical competence.

On the claim that Jan de Nul submitted the lowest bid Ohakwe explained that they did that with a view to calling  for an upward review of the contract if they eventually get it.

Explaining further, Ohakwe noted that that between 2005 and 2006 Jan de Nul bided for the dredging of the same river but was not successful as Messrs Van Oord Lid won that bid.

“Jan de Nul however petitioned the former President Obasanjo and succeeded in pressurizing the Federal Government to split the projects into two and got the lion share of  E30miilion while Van Oord got E26million.

“While Van Oord got that amount to dredge 0-46 kilometers, Jan de Nul got its own to dredge only 42 kilometers. He added.

He noted that out of the six firms that submitted bids only two of them namely Lagos Channel Management Company and Van Oord  were adjudged to be ‘sustantially responsive’ while others including Jan de Nul submitted bids laden with stringent and unacceptable conditions that are unacceptable to NPA.

“Some of the conditions proposed by Jan de Nul include refusal to pay local taxes and sabotage fees as it specifically stated that its employer i.e NPA shall be responsible for the payments of such fees some of which include green light dues, wharf or pilot charges, dredging and dumping fees and other local fees, royalties and levies, he stated.

Ohakwe also appealed to the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) not fall into the antics of Jan de Nul and its sponsors because it is another game plan to throw tax payers down the drain.