Dockworkers Commend Buhari For Reopening BUA Terminal, Rivers Ports

Dockworkers at the Rivers ports at the weekend commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his commitment to due process, which has led to reopening the BUA Terminals shut down last year by the Nigerian Ports Author­ity (NPA) in a move challenged by BUA at the time, and decried by maritime stakeholders.

The workers in their numbers took to the docks of Port Harcourt to thank key stakeholders for their timely intervention in the crisis between the BUA Ports and Termi­nals and the NPA, which rendered business activities at the terminal B void.

Comrade Waite Harry, a Na­tional Trustee of the dockworkers branch of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, while address­ing the dockworkers at the rally, commended the President for his commitment to due process, which ultimately led to the with­drawal of the notice of termina­tion issued to BUA Ports & Termi­nals, in line with the concession agreement.


The Government also directed both parties to resolve all outstand­ing issues in line with the conces­sion agreement, discontinue the pending arbitration in London, and reopen the BUA terminals immediately.

According to Comrade Waite Harry, “This action has saved the jobs of many dockworkers whose only source of livelihood come from working here. The resolution of the crisis has changed our sta­tus from being “prisoners of hope” due to untold hardship dockwork­ers faced over the inability of ships to berth at the BUA terminals.

“We must also appreciate the Management of BUA Ports & Ter­minals who continued to support us monthly throughout this peri­od. We are happy that we can now return back to our work through this gesture by the FG which will also bring economic prosperity to the state and the nation in gener­al.”

“I hope that all outstanding is­sues can now be resolved by both parties amicably”, he added.


It would be recalled that in 2019, the NPA issued a notice of termi­nation to BUA Ports and Termi­nals, concessionaires of the Rivers Ports Terminal B in a move that BUA said was illegal and ran con­trary to the concession agreement.

Independent