President Muhammadu Buhari will on Saturday 19th of January, 2019 inaugurate the just completed Baro River Port in Niger State, the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has said.
A statement signed by the General Manager, Corporate Affairs, NIWA, Mr. Tayo Fadile in Lokoja yesterday disclosed that the Baro River Port was built by Chinese firm (CGCC Global Project Nigeria Limited) at total cost of six billion naira, equipped with a Mobile Harbour Crane, Transit shed, Administrative block, fire hydrant system, water treatment plant, Reach stacker, 100KVA power generating set, and three numbers forklifts of various tonnages.
The statement stated that it was one of the River Ports built to support the dredging of Lower River Niger project adding that Onitsha River Port had already been rehabilitated while Oguta and Lokoja River Ports were nearing completion.
It went on to say that the Baro River Port was expected to create at least two thousand direct jobs and hundreds of thousands indirect jobs while helping to keep off the road several heavy duty trailers and trucks, thereby extending the life span of the roads.
“In the past, during the colonial era, Baro use to have a thriving River Port and a railway line which were used for evacuation of farm produce and mineral resources, it was a trading point between Nigeria and neighbouring countries through the Inland Waterways transportation mode.
“There is hope that the old rail lines used in the colonial days will be revived and the road network linking the port is already being upgraded”, the statement said.
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