FEC Approves N1.2 Billion for Purchase of Pilot Cutters for Lagos Ports

By ZION Olalekan    |

Pilotage in the Apapa and Tin Can Island Port is set for a significant boost, as the Federal Government on Wednesday approved the purchase of two pilot cutters at the cost of N1.2bn, for the two pilotage districts.

A pilot cutter is typically a small or medium-sized boat used to transport maritime pilots from the harbour to incoming large trading vessels.

The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi indicated this Wednesday after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja, noting that the Ministry went to the meeting with two memoranda.

“We have what we refer to as Pilot cutters; these are vessels that convey pilots, who move ships or vessels from point A to point B and currently we have Pilot Cutters everywhere, excluding Tincan and Apapa, which constitute the Western Ports.

“So, we came to Cabinet to request that they award the contract to enable us purchase the two pilot quarters to serve both Tincan and Apapa.

“That was approved; it was awarded at N1, 210,385,255. 37’’, the Minister stated.

“The Ministry of Transportation had two memoranda approved at the meeting. One of them had to do with the variation of cost for the Abuja runway which came earlier in April but was stepped down for the ministry to liaise in terms of pricing with the Ministry of Works.

“That was done and brought back to cabinet. The work was reviewed and the cabinet approved the increase of N628, 123,590 as variation on the job.

“Actually what we refer to as variation is an additional work that we ran into in the cause of the construction or repair of the runway,” he said.

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