The non-completion of the major access roads to the multi-million Naira Baro Inland Port in Niger State is stalling its take-off, the Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA, Dr. George Moghalu, disclosed.
Speaking with newsmen on Sunday in Lokoja, Mr Moghalu said the authority is working round the clock by reaching out to appropriate authorities in a bid to get access roads to the facility fixed.
He noted that the port is critical to the operations of Nigeria’s waterways, especially being a feeder to inland dry ports in Kaduna and others being proposed by the Federal Government.
Stakeholders have expressed worries over the inability of the Federal Government to put the port to use, more than a year after its commissioning by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Etsu Nupe, Yahaya Abubakar and Governor Abubakar Sani Bello had recently appealed to the Federal Government to accelerate work on the main access road from Agaie town in Agaie Local Government Area through Katcha to Baro.
It is believed that the port is a key catalyst for trade stimulation and economic development of the North in particular and Nigeria at large.
There are two major access roads to the ancient community – the 55 kilometers Baro/Katcha/Agaie and Baro/Muye linking Gegu on Abuja/Lokoja expressway both of which are in deplorable condition.
The federal government had awarded the contract for the Baro/Katcha/Agaie axis.
NIWA is also considering the option of approaching the host state government of Niger with the intent of persuading it to collaborate with the federal government on the matter. The Baro port was constructed by a Chinese firm, CGCC Project Limited, at the cost of N5.8 billion.
The port boasts of a quay length of 150 metres, cargo stacking yard of 7,000 square metres, a transit shed of 3, 600 square metres and an estimated capacity of 5,000 TEU at a time.