The Ocean and Cargo Terminal Services Limited has emerged the preferred bidder at the financial bid for Terminal ‘B’ Warri Old Port, Delta State.
A statement by Amina Othman, Head, Public Communications, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), yesterday in Abuja, said the company offered 25.5 million dollars for the port.
She said Ecomarine Consortium, the rival company, was disqualified for improper submission of its bidding documents.
She said Ecomarine’s bid price was not announced, adding that Ocean and Cargo Terminal Services Limited’s emergence was subject to the approval of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP).
Ecomarine scored 87.84 per cent and Ocean and Cargo Terminal Services Limited 82.70 per cent in the evaluation of the technical proposals of the prospective bidders.
Othman said the event, which was chaired by Mr Mohammad Ahmed, Chairman, Technical Committee, NCP, was attended by many stakeholders, including the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
BPE Director-General, Mr Alex Okoh, who was represented by Mr Aliyu Maigari, Director, Transport Department, Mr. Aliyu Maigau, Department, said modest achievements had been recorded at the ports since the port concession programme commenced in 2005.
He said this informed the government’s determination to concession the Terminal ‘B’ Warri Old Port.
He said the objectives of the concession were to increase the efficiency of ports operations, reduce cost of doing business, reduce dependence on the treasury for support to an otherwise economically viable ports sector.
“It would also boost economic activity, increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and accelerate development to make the Nigerian ports the hub of international freights in West and Central Africa,” Okoh said.
He said the federal government expected much from the preferred bidder for the port and urged it to focus on the objectives of the port reforms in its business.
Ahmed, who chaired the bid, said the reform and restructuring of the transport sector which commenced in 2000, led to the concession of 26 port terminals out of the 28 in 2006.
He said the NCP advertised for Expressions of Interest (EOI) from prospective concessionaires interested in taking over and managing the port on June 23, 2014.
He said at the expiration of the deadline for the submission of EOIs, 13 applications were received, out of which seven were pre-qualified for the issuance of bidding documents.
Associated Maritime Services Limited (AMS) was the concessionaire that won the Warri Old Port Terminal B in 2006.
However, when AMS took over the terminal in 2007, it could not operate the facility because the entire terminal was in total disuse.
The quay wall had collapsed; the stacking/operation areas caved in and were unable to withstand any crane, while all the warehouses and stalls were in bad state.
“On April 25, 2008, NPA temporarily relocated AMS to Warri New Port to enable it undertake the necessary repairs, rehabilitation and reconstruction of the facilities at the terminal.