NIWA Approves Construction of 100,000 Litres ‘Fuel Dump’ at CMS Jetty

By ZION Olalekan

Fresh indications have emerged that a new fuel dump for boat and ferry operators is now springing up at the Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) Jetty situated at CMS, Marina Lagos.

Investigation launched by our correspondent however revealed that NIWA has issued a ‘Stop Work Order’ on the project due to failure of the investor Harbour Oil and Gas International Limited to follow the blueprint and work design.

Lagos Area Manager of NIWA, Eng. Muazu Sambo told our correspondent that the tanks were supposed to be mounted underground where they would not be visible to the eyes but that the investor went ahead to start erecting surface tanks.

Eng. Muazu has however directed that the tanks be dismantled with immediate effect which the investor has commenced.

According to the Area Manager, the investor had gotten an authorisation from the NIWA and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to make use of the land for the re-construction of a ‘fuel dump’ meant to serve all boat operators at the jetty.

Investigations by Nigeriamaritime360.com revealed that there was actually a fuel dump at the NIWA jetty but it has since been abandoned.

According to Eng. Sambo, the investor “got it all wrong, what we wanted there is just to see the dispensing pumps, one for AGO, one for PMS, but he went ahead and started constructing a tank farm. I have directed them to stop work at the place, they are dismantling the tanks now, and they would be buried underground” he said.

Speaking further on why he suspended the project, he said “One, it makes the environment ugly, secondly, it places the people at risk, this is a highly densely populated area, people see this here as not acceptable.

“We told him what we wanted but he went ahead to implement something else. The tank is supposed to be buried underground”.

He said that NIWA decided to reactivate the fuel dump because of several letters she got from the association of boat operators.

He said the Inspector General of Police had issued a warning in year 2017 that anybody seen with jerrican would be arrested and this has posed a major challenge to boat operators.

“You know that there are no filling stations around the waterfronts, establishment of the fuel dump is the only means by which they can fuel their boats, based on this we decided to activate the fuel dump”.

He said that the Authority also had similar fuel dump at some of its jetties in Lagos.

Meanwhile, boat operators at the CMS Jetty have commended NIWA for reactivating the fuel dump.

One of them, Comrade Ifeanyi Ogbonna noted that for more than three decades, boat operators have always been at disadvantage position whenever there is fuel scarcity across the country.

Speaking, he said “To make matters worse, the Police sometimes ago placed a ban on sales of petroleum in jerrican without any construction for the operators”

Another boat operator, who identified himself as Ibrahim working with Tarzan Boats said that the police have always arrested boat operators whenever they are sighted with large number of jerricans.

Ibrahim said that boat operators are the largest consumers of petroleum products but they are being maltreated before they could get the product.

Before this NIWA initiative, he said “Various appeals had been made to various governments and major marketers for siting of their petrol stations at our major jetties all over the country all to no avail” he said.