The Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, yesterday attributed the delay in inaugurating the Lagos-Ibadan rail project to infrastructural and technical issues within the seaport in Apapa.
This, according to him, would be resolved at a meeting involving all stakeholders and experts to proffer solutions to the problem.
Amaechi, during an inspection tour of the project within the seaport axis yesterday in Lagos, said he could not say exactly when the project would now be launched.
He said: “This project is very technical. If I have given you a timeline, how would I have found a solution to the customs building, so we are working hard to find these solutions; it is only after when the engineers have come up with proper solutions and time-based solutions that I can speak on time. Now I cannot speak on time until when that happens.
“You know, you can actually commission this project without that because it is not just one track, there are several tracks; that is one of the tracks we are going to fix. I am not an engineer, am just a policymaker; I am the head of the ministry.”
Amaechi, however, expressed the determination of the government to complete the project despite the challenges.
“All I am doing is to make sure that out of the three tracks one or two can get to the quays so that we can commission, pending when the other ones are completed as a result of challenges we are meeting inside the seaport. It means this is the difficulty we are having and we want to face them. The fact that we have not gone to other places means other places are functioning. But this one we have this crisis and we have to find a solution to it.
“We are going to have a meeting now, and in that meeting, everybody will be there both the experts and once we make a decision, then we can convey it to the public. We have about three tracks coming into here, is only one that we are having problems with.”
Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Mr. Fridet Okhiria, expressed the need to have the rail fully operational at the seaside of the port.
”The essence of the rail is to move freight, passengers and to provide service and we have to get to the port meaningfully, not just getting to the port. We have to get to the seaside so that the ship can load directly to reduce multiple handling of goods and by doing so it will reduce the cost of the movement because presently we now get ourselves in multiple handling.
“You have to pay for a truck to take it to the railway head that is why the minister is insisting that we must get to the seaside and which is the best way to go for Nigeria. We should earn more revenue and reduce cost and the goods will get to the market and eliminate double handling of goods,” he said.