By Godfrey Bivbere

Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar has said that the Federal Government is set to develop a new National Dredging Programme that will address the challenges of flooding in the country as well as to ensure continuous maintenance of the nation’s water channels.

The Minister, who disclosed this in Lagos, explained that the new programme will involve the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), the Nigerian Army Corps of Engineers and the private sector.

“As parts of Federal Government’s efforts to ensure the sustainability of the dredged channel of the inland waterways, government is developing a robust National Dredging Programme (NDP) that will involve the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), the Nigerian Army Corps of Engineers and the private sector with a view to ensure a continuous sweeping of the channels and undertake maintenance activities. The NDP is equally expected to address the challenges of flooding,”he said.

Additional efforts to curb the problem of flooding in the country, the minister pointed out that the processes for the award of contract for the dredging of the lower River Benue and the construction of Makurdi Port will be completed before the end of the year.

He also noted that the federal government is intensifying efforts to ensure a Public Private Partnership programme in intermodal project financing in the country. In line with the above he continued, the federal government through the ministry of transport is collaborating with Lagos state government to develop Lekki and Badagry deep sea ports in conjunction with the private investors.

Similarly, the former Senator noted that the federal government is also collaborating with the Akwa Ibom state government for the development of Ibaka deep sea port, also with the involvement of private investors.

On human capacity development in the transportation sector, the minister said that his ministry has made concert efforts in empowering agencies like Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Institute of transport Technology (NITT) and the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN) to provide the required services needed for policy formulation and administration.