Stakeholders threaten action over CVFF

Enyeribe Anyanwu         

Local shipping operators and stakeholders in the maritime industry have threatened to embark on mass protest over the continued delay in the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF). The stakeholders who voiced their disappointment and anger while making contributions at the largest gathering of maritime operators NIMAREX 2014 which just ended in Lagos, said the non-disbursement of the fund has become unpatriotic as the fund is meant to build indigenous shipping capacity.
The participants at the annual maritime expo berated the banks, NIMASA and the Federal Ministry of Transport for the delay in the disbursement of the fund.

‘The banks have been keeping the money.  They are not ready to release it. They are sitting on the fund and trading on it. Something must be done. It is becoming unpatriotic. They keep on giving us new conditions. If it means carrying placards, we must do that. Things have got just bad,” said Mrs. Margret Onyema-Oraekwusi, Chairman of NIMAREX Planning Committee.
Speaking on the issue, Chairman/CEO Starzs Investment Company Limited based in Port Harcourt, Mr. Greg Ogbeifun, said government or banks have no business keeping the fund and denying the owners use of it.

“The money doesn’t belong to government. There was no appropriation for it. It belongs to us, not government,” he bellowed.
He said lack of funds is crippling indigenous shipping companies while there is fund that can help them. “Indigenous companies operating in the oil and gas industry make a compulsory contribution of 2% of their daily earnings to Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) and yet none of them has benefitted from this fund, of which could support the acquiring of more vessels by these companies to provide more training for seafarers, ” lamented Ogbeifun.”