As stakeholders contemplate solutions to the ravaging challenges of insecurity on waterways in Rivers State, a former Commissioner for Transport, George Tolofari has proferred a solution which he expects the State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara should consider.

Tolofari has advised the Fubara led administration in the State to prioritize water transportation by refurbishing the five water taxis purchased by the Peter Odili administration and ensure that the boats are put to use.

Tolofari, who gave this advice on Thursday, September 12, 2024 in response to an enquiry by Kristina Reports in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, disclosed that the boats are currently at the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder Base at Iwofe (Rumuolumeni) in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the State.

He stated that doing so would not only alleviate the sufferings of the riverine communities in the State who need water transportation to boost their businesses, but would also justify huge amounts expended on the project, as well as curb wastages in government.  

He advised the current administration to refurbish the boats and also build matching jetties in Bonny Island and other communities where they would be deployed, pointing out that though discarded by previous administrations, the project was strategic as it could boost water transportation, as well as increase the State’s internally generated revenue.

He further stated that prioritizing the water transportation sub-sector by the Governor Fubara-led administration must be encouraged, as this would hold immense solutions to some of the challenges confronting the people in the State.

The former Transport Commissioner also shed light on the mystery surrounding the water taxis purchased by the Rivers State Government for use by riverine communities in the State.

He revealed that the five water taxis, which were inherited by the Rotimi Amaechi administration in which he served, were bought by the Peter Odili administration to be deployed along riverine routes of the State and serve the water transportation needs of the people.

He explained that the Amaechi administration proceeded to sending people to Portugal for training, whom he said were to handle the boats before they were shipped down, regretting, however, that the boats could not be deployed due to lack of specialized landing jetties where they could berth and sail from.

He further explained that given the impediment, the government approached Shell Nigeria and the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) to use their jetty facilities, but both companies refused, citing security and operational reasons for their refusal.

“We were faced with a big challenge; where to take off from and where to berth. No specialized jetty to operate from because of how the boats were built.

“We approached Shell and NLNG to use their facilities, but they denied us access. Shell said they had shut down Kidney Island where their water operations take off from, and that the channel had stilted so that the boat cannot even approach a jetty. NLNG said for some security and other operational reasons, we couldn’t use their jetty as well.”

He said the administration had to prioritize the project the way it did, considering that it fitted into its vision of strengthening water transportation system, as well as complement road transportation in the state.

“We inherited the transaction and so, we continued with it because it fitted perfectly well into our vision for an intermodal transportation system for Rivers State, where people could travel by road, sea and the monorail at the same time.”

He informed since they could not be deployed due to the challnges he had highlighted, the government decided to keep the five boats at the NNS Pathfinder Base for safety and security due to theft and the sinking of some of those boats owing to leakages.

“Since we couldn’t deploy them, we had to approach the Navy and move them to their Base, because people were beginning to go to Government Jetty at Marine Base where they were kept to steal and pilfer from the boats. One or two were also beginning to sink because water was getting into them from leakages. They were static and exposed to weather.”

According to the former Transport Commissioner, “the only solution to this is for government to get sites in town and in Bonny, and build matching jetties where these boats can take-off and berth”.

George Tolofari, who is a former two-term ranking member of the Rivers State House of Assembly, lamented that the project was abandoned after the administration of Mr. Amaechi left office, regretting that the abandonment was due to the fact that it was not within the capture and vision of the successive administrations in the State.

He also attributed the non-functionality of the boats to the failure of the administration that initiated the project for not taking cognizance of the peculiar situation or what might be compatible with the terrain in the State before venturing into such transactions.

He, therefore, warned that government must always consider peculiar circumstances of its environment before embarking on a project, as this, he noted, would provide adequate information needed to succeed.

“The previous government that initiated the purchase of the taxis didn’t take cognizance of our peculiar situation in Rivers State to get what will be suitable or compatible with our terrain. They just saw fancy boats and purchased them. That is why no government has been able to deploy those boats”.