President Mohammadu Buhari GCFR will on Saturday, inaugurate the just completed Baro River Port in Niger State.
The river port project which was undertaken by the Chinese firm, CGCC Global Project Nigeria Limited, at the cost of N6 billion, is equipped with a mobile harbour crane, a transit shed, an administrative block, fire hydrant system, water treatment plant, reach stacker, 100KVA power generating set and three forklifts of various tonnages, among others.
The General Manager, Corporate Affairs, National Inland Waterways (NIWA), Tayo Fadile, in a statement issued in Lokoja, Kogi State, said that the Baro River Port is among those built to support the dredging of the Lower River Niger project.
“The Onitsha River Port has already been rehabilitated, while Oguta and Lokoja River Ports are nearing completion,” he added.
According to him, the Baro River Port, will aside helping to keep off the road several heavy duty trailers and trucks, thereby extending the life span of our roads, is expected to create at least two thousand direct jobs and hundreds of thousands indirect jobs.
“During the colonial era, Baro used 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. Here 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,” he said.
