Dickson Presses FG for Agge Deep Seaport, Airport, Coastal Railway in Bayelsa

By Bennett Oghifo and Emmanuel Ade in Bayelsa

The Bayelsa State Government has sought the Federal government’s collaboration on Agge Deep Seaport, International Cargo Airport and Coastal Railway in the state.

Governor Henry Seriake Dickson, who led a delegation on a visit to the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi in Abuja, urged leaders and government functionaries to always work for the good of the country. 

He said once elections were over, political actors must close ranks, irrespective of party affiliations to work for the security and development of the nation. 

While stressing that the Agge Deep Seaport would be economically viable, Governor Dickson said the Seaport and the Airport would open up the state and enable Bayelsa play an active role in the Gulf of Guinea, since Bayelsa was on the tip of the Atlantic Ocean. 

This was contained in a statement from his Chief Press Secretary, Francis Ottah Agbo who stated that the Deep Seaport was founded on a Public Private Partnership arrangement and declared that government had reached out to investors who had shown keen interest in the project.

In his response, the Minister thanked the Governor for the visit and pledged to facilitate all outstanding approvals to fast-track the takeoff of the much awaited Deep Seaport in Bayelsa.

In line with the Federal Government’s Ease of Doing Business, the Minister said his Ministry would do all within its powers to ensure that the Agge Deep Seaport was brought to fruition. 

According to him, “there is a presidential Directive on Ease of doing Business which makes it mandatory for us to treat all files before us within seven days.

“I can guarantee you all approvals in my Ministry to fast-track the actualisation of the Agge Deep Seaport. All you need to do is to look for the investors. We approved for Cross River State irrespective of party affiliations and we shall do everything necessary to make sure that Agge Deep Seaport takes off because development doesn’t know party differences,” he assured.

On the Coastal Rail, Amaechi promised to look into it, while promising to liaise with Minister of State for Aviation on the Governor’s request on the airport. 

The Minister also praised the Governor for providing infrastructure in his state in spite of the difficult terrain, stressing that in Bayelsa, “there is water everywhere, there is no upland.”