NIMASA Says CVFF Is Intact, Assures Of Disbursement Soon
. Strategies Ongoing To Put N50 Billion Modular Floating Dock Into Operation, Says Mobereola
By Abimbola Abdullah
The Managing Director, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dayo Mobereola has assured that the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) is with the Federal Government and it’s intact.
The fund was established in 2003 to support indigenous shipowners in acquisition of vessels and grow local capacity within the sector. However, the CVFF has remained a bone of contention with various administrations, as the fund is yet to be disbursed by the Federal Government, about 21 years after.
Mobereola, in a chart with the media in Lagos on Monday, said his administration is working relentlessly to ensure that the fund is disbursed soon, and in the right manner.
He said: “The CVFF is with the Federal Government. It has not been touched. It is for the shipowners and for the development of the Nigerian shipping industry. We are currently working on fine-tuning the modalities for the CVFF disbursement. Once we are done, we will inform the industry.”
He explained further: “We are looking at opportunities to ensure that the CVFF will be disbursed and that it will be to the benefit of shipping promotion in Nigeria, and it will not be distorted. It will be something that would help us to continually develop the sector. So those are strategies that we are working on, and bearing in mind that the strategies or decisions taken 20 years ago have been surpassed. So there are many other opportunities now, and we will be doing ourselves injustice if we don’t put into consideration what is happening now, not only in Nigeria, but internationally, before we start disbursing this fund.
“CVFF is not about vessels alone. It’s about the demand. What exactly are these vessels going to carry? So we are also working on the issue of ensuring there will be steady cargo for the vessels, so the vessels will not be lying follow, but will be making revenue for the sector. So it’s all of this that we are looking at”
On the N50 billion modular floating dock, Mobereola assured that the agency is currently working on putting the modular floating dock into very good use.
He said the management team visited the site of the floating dock last Thursday at the Continental Shipyard, Apapa, as part of the efforts to put the facility into good use.
“The initial plan for the floating dock was not the right one. We are going to put the Modular Floating Dock to very good use so that once it’s in operation, it will benefit the economy, seafarers, and NIMASA itself. We need to place the modular floating dock in an appropriate location. It is just a matter of time; we will soon get that done.”
He said that once it is in use, it will be beneficial to the economy, seafarers and generate more employment for the people.
