The Honourable Minister of Transportation, Rt Hon Rotimi Amaechi has shed more light on why he rejected a request by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to review the agency’s salary. This is even as he revealed that the over $200m Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) has not been disbursed despite a Presidential approval because the Minister of Finance says it’s a public fund and shouldn’t be disbursed.
Speaking over the weekend during a Ministerial Retreat organized by the Federal Ministry of Transportation in Lagos, Amaechi urged the indigenous shipowners to write a protest letter over the refusal of the Minister of Finance to disburse the CVFF fund, so that he can again approach Mr President over the matter.
According to the Honourable Minister of Transportation, “Why we are gathered here basically is because we want to see if we can take the maritime industry to where we have taken the rail sector to.
“The funds that you need to expend in the maritime industry to make it efficient is not as huge as what you need for the railway, so the problem of maritime is more of persons; that makes the person’s there to be more efficient.
“We said we will turn NIMASA from a contract awarding agency to the proper regulatory agency that they are. Before today, if 10 persons approach me in the ministry for posting, eight will say ‘I want to go to NIMASA’. So when they (NIMASA) said we should increase their salary, we said “no” because, over time, NIMASA became a cash cow. Everybody wanted to be posted there both for contract employment or political appointment. So, I said no to their salary increment request. if NIMASA maintains its regulatory status, people will stop struggling to come there from the ministry, and we have achieved that.
“In the area of maritime security, I said we will address the issue of insecurity in the maritime sector because the reasons why vessels are not able to go to Port Harcourt, Warri and other eastern ports is because of insecurity which is fuelling high cost of insurance premium.
“So, if we address the issue of insecurity, then the high cost of insurance will reduce from the huge premium and more businesses will go to the South-South where we have other seaports.
“You (media) were there when we launched the equipment for the maritime security architecture. We are now monitoring to see how much improvement has occured since the launch. Very soon, the huge insurance premium on Nigerian bound cargoes is going to reduce because there is the presence of security equipment on our waters.
“On the CVFF, Mr President made approval, saying go ahead and disburse, and the Attorney General also said we should go ahead because the law says it’s a private fund. But then, the Minister of Finance protested that it is a public fund, and cannot be spent. So what will I do? Due to this situation, we are handicapped.
“The owners of the fund (shipowners) should write to the President and copy me, then I will go back to the President because the law says it is not a public fund. Now, the owners of the fund are aware that there is a Presidential approval. They are also now aware of the protest by the Minister of Finance. So, they should write to Mr President and copy me. if I have all this, I will go back to the President on the matter.”
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