MAN worries over Calabar seaport

The Cross River and Akwa-Ibom chapter of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has expressed worry over the idle state of the Calabar seaport.The Chairman of the MAN chapter, Mr. Iniobong Jackson, who spoke during the Annual General Meeting of the association in Calabar, said for a long period, the port had remained dormant with low traffic as a result of its shallow nature.The MAN chairman attributed the dormant nature of the port to lack of political will, adding, The inactivity of the port arising from lack of dredging of the Calabar channel is causing the nation growing job losses in thousands.We have all that is required to compete with Lagos in terms of localisation of industries. Lagos can afford to sustain itself without oil because of the shipping activities and it is established that 78 per cent of the shipping of the non-oil sector of our economy is presently vested in Lagos, which is the home to about 15 shipping terminals.The Calabar port has been very dormant and this makes it impossible to locate any industry in this zone to compete favourably for the same market with their counterparts in Lagos. Invariably, the landing cost of trucking these cargoes to their destinations is the same or even more than shipping into the country.While charging the government to expedite action on the revitalisation of the seaport, Jackson tasked the governments of Cross River and Akwa-Ibom states to step in and put pressure on the Federal Government to do something about the port.
Click here to read full news..