By Emma Amaize

WARRI—THE Warri Study Group, WSG, Warri, Delta State, yesterday, called on President Goodluck Jonathan to perform the ground-breaking ceremony of the multi-billion dollar Export Processing Zone, EPZ, project at Ogidigben, Warri South-West Local Government Area of the state without delay, to create employment for thousands of Nigerian youths.

WSG, in a statement by its Chairman, Mr. Edward Ekpoko, said there was no connection between the groundbreaking of the EPZ and the proposed Gbaramatu Deep Seaport project.

He said: “There has been a lot of misinformation or lack of proper understanding of the Ogidigben EPZ project going by what some people have said in recent times in the media. There is no nexus between the ground-breaking of the EPZ, thrice postponed, and the proposed Gbaramatu Deep Seaport project whose preliminaries are yet to begin.

“The project site for the Ogidigben EPZ has long been acquired and preliminary works are in progress. For the Gbaramatu Deep Seaport Project, no land has been acquired. While the EPZ is a project of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, the Deep Seaport project is that of the Nigerian Ports Authority, a different organisation.

“The Maritime University and the Dockyard in Okerenkoko are projects of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA and were not tied to the Ogidigben EPZ which made the President to commission the projects at Okerenkoko even though at that time the Ogidigben EPZ was ripe for the ground-breaking.

“The reason given was that the two projects are being handled by two different institutions and since NNPC was not ready at the time Mr. President came to Okerenkoko. It was only the ground-breaking ceremony of the Dockyard and the Maritime University that was performed,” he added.