[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
dam-l Niger River dredging dispute/LS
Proposal To Dredge Niger River Under Dispute
May 31, 1999
Francis Nwosu, PANA Correspondent
LAGOS, Nigeria (PANA) - Swift and spontaneous reactions have remained
diverse since the signing in December of a 96.511-million-US dollar
contract
to dredge 578 km of the lower Niger river spanning Nigeria.
The contract was signed between the Petroleum Trust (Special) Fund and
three firms - Julius Berger Nigeria PLC, Westminster Dredging Company
Nigeria Ltd and Ham Dredging South Nigeria Ltd.
The current dredging plan is expected to have a bottom width of 100 metres
and a minimum depth of 3.0 metres below chart datum with the expectation to
facilitate navigation by flat bottom vessels and barges from two river
ports at Port Harcourt and Warri in the delta region to Baro, upstream in
Niger state.
The project will involve the removal of rocks and curves to eliminate
dangerous bends which hitherto constituted impediments to safe navigation.
But environmentalists and some stakeholders think that the project would
aggravate the severely impacted Niger Delta eco-system and communities
bearing the burden of Nigeria's oil and gas activities.
Communities in the Delta argue that the scheme would further worsen
resource degradation in a region whose people are mostly peasant fishermen
and
farmers, wholly dependent on their rich but fragile natural resource base.
The communities have been restive following years of petroleum mining
activities that had left much of their farmlands degraded and fish ponds
and rivers
polluted.
They also complain of marginalisation in the distribution of resources from
oil revenue.
In its efforts to woo the host communities for the project, the Nigerian
government appointed a beneficiary/community consultant to meet the
communities
and stakehloders in the nine states where the project is located.
The campaigns showed that the peoples of Niger, Benue and Kogi states, all
in the middle-belt region, favour the project, its environmental impact
notwithstanding.
Their support is based on the perceived expectation of improved economic
activity in their area when the project is completed.
The Igbos, who inhabit Anambra, Imo and parts of Delta states, also favour
the project. A major beneficiary, they argue, is the inland port at Onitsha
- the
commercial nerve-centre of the east.
It is expected that the scheme would reduce flood peaks which will result
in flood damage mitigation for areas currently subject to flooding, thus
providing
more land for crop production.
The seventh largest river in the world, the Niger straddles Guinea, Mali,
Niger and Nigeria, covering about 4,184 km in length and draining a total
area of
621,351 sq km before emptying into the Gulf of Guinea.
It joins River Benue which flows from Cameroon at Lokoja, some 547 km from
the sea.
The measure of upstream currents on the Benue at 3.4 knots suggests that
much of the water flowing south from the confluence comes from the Benue
rather than from the Upper Niger.
The first dredging of this part of the Niger on the Nigerian side was in
1958 and was said to be successful.
The second exercise was carried out between 1978 and 1984. According to
government sources, the adverse environmental impacts of the project were
then not known.
This site is part of AFRICA NEWS ONLINE.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::