After several years of foot-dragging over the dredging of the Warri/Excravos River, the Federal Government, on Friday, finally promised that the project would commence next year.Dredging is the process of removing percolated underwater deposits for the purpose of clearing the water pathway for ships to pass. It is also used to create adequate space to construct important bridges, dams and to weed out silt, intoxicants and pollutants from the bottom of the water.The non execution of the project, our correspondent gathered, has also affected the operations of the Delta Steel Company, Aladja, which is said to have a current capacity utilisation of 30 per cent.When the Warri/Escravos River is dredged, our correspondent learnt, it would allow for deep ocean vessels to bring in iron ore into the Warri Port from Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela.The Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, who gave the hint in Warri during a programme to mark the Warri Port revitalisation and celebration of an incidence free operation, noted that the Federal Government had decided to embark on the project because of its importance.Umar noted that the cost of the project had already been captured in the 2012 fiscal budget, adding that when the dredging begins next year, it would take thousands of unemployed youths off the streets in the state.The project, when completed, according to the minister, will also boost the partnership between the Nigerian Ports, Warri and the Excravos Gas-to-Liquid operations, which is currently ongoing.The Gas-to-Liquid project, a joint venture between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and Chevron Nigeria Limited, is designed to produce 34,000 barrels of fuel per day, using flared gas.The minister said, When the EGTL project started, it looked like another dream. But Chevron and the NNPC have proved sceptics wrong and provided thousands of jobs for the teeming youths population.Nigeria is endowed with abundant natural resources. That is why we must embrace modern technology in the exploitation of these resources. To this end, the Federal Government would commence the dredging of the Warri/Excravos Channel in 2012, and this has already been captured in the 2012 fiscal year.
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