Peterside pledges to protect vessel financing fund from abuse

Dr Dakuku Peterside, Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), has pledged to protect the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) from any form of abuse.
This is contained in a statement by the spokesperson of the agency, Mrs Lami Tumaka in Lagos.
The statement said that Peterside made the pledge while fielding questions from newsmen at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja.
It said that Peterside assured stakeholders that NIMASA would ensure the disbursement of the CVFF to qualified operators, provided they met the requirements as stipulated in the guidelines.
The fund is derived from the two per cent surcharge on all cabotage contracts, which are deducted and warehoused in the CVFF.
The fund is a product of the Coastal and Inland Shipping Act of 2003 and provides for the disbursement of loans to indigenous operators in the shipping industry to grow their fleet.
“The current management is bent on ensuring that the agency commits itself to the principles and letters of its enabling instruments.
“NIMASA under my leadership will rededicate itself to its core functions of promoting indigenous participation in international and coastal shipping as well as regulating the maritime sector for Nigeria’s economic development,” the statement quoted Peterside as saying.
It said that the agency would safeguard the CVFF from suffering the same fate as the Ship Building and Ship Acquisition Fund (SBSAF).
“The SBSAF was backed by policy; the CVFF is backed by law, which makes it more difficult for the CVFF to be open to abuse.
“With the CVFF, the Agency contributes 30 per cent, the banks, who are the primary lending institutions, contribute 50 per cent, while the applicant makes an equity contribution of 15 per cent,“ it quoted Peterside as saying.
The statement said that the various layers of due diligence from the Agency to the banks made it very difficult for the CCFF to be abused, as the banks would undertake the risk analysis.