Minister of State for Transport, Senator Gbemi Saraki, last week, dismissed speculations that the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund CVFF currently valued at $350 million (N210 billion) meant for indigenous ship owners to acquire vessels has been misappropriated.
The CVFF established under the Cabotage and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act of 2003, is an accumulated fund from the contribution of 2 per cent of contract value by indigenous ship owners designed to promote the development of indigenous ship acquisition to enable local shipowners compete with their foreign counterparts.
However, 20 years after the Act was established, no ship owner has benefitted from the fund as it has remained inaccessible, thus defeating its objectives. But the Minister while fielding questions from newsmen during an interactive session in Lagos, said that the Fund was still intact contrary to speculations in some quarters that it may have been misappropriated.
However, she expressed worries over non-disbursement of the CVFF nearly 20 years after it was created, a development she described as a shame, that was not too good for the image of the nation.
She said that it was rather disheartening that no indigenous ship owner has been able to access the Fund designed to help local shippers acquire vessels nearly 20 years after.
Conversely, she stated that the guidelines for the disbursement of the fund have been formulated and would soon be presented to the National Assembly for approval
