By Odimmegwa Johnpeter, Abuja
The Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has threatened to take drastic measures to stop the disruption of the movement of trains into Apapa Port by tanker drivers and terminal owners. His words:
“On the issue of port, I have asked the Permanent Secretary to discuss with NPA, as the Tanker drivers have disrupted the movement of the train into the port and we have to stop them now, or we stop the owner of that terminal”.
The Hon. Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi said this while addressing Journalists during the routine inspection of the Lagos-Ibadan Railway Project on Saturday, April 10, 2021.
Reacting to the slow pace of work on the ongoing Lagos-Ibadan Railway Project, Amaechi said, “If you look at the level of work, we cannot ask the President to commission this, but once we give CCECC definite time I know they will speed up. There are some minor things they still need to put in place but it is taking the time to do that, some of those things should not take more than a day or two to put in place”.
“For CCECC am sick and tired of them and that is why I asked them to see us on Wednesday, although most of the things remaining are minor and it cannot delay the movement of goods. They have promised to finish by the end of the month, okay! I believe them but I want them to reiterate that”.
Amaechi, speaking on the date of commissioning, “We are trying to get an appointment from the office of the President for the date of commissioning. Once they give us a date we will make the public know. However, we should know that there are a lot of things involved in bringing the President to commission the project”, he added.
One other challenge the minister spotted out was the car parking space, which he stated wasn’t enough as he urged the contractors to increase the car parking space for future convenience.
“If there is a surge in passengers there wouldn’t be enough space for parking”.
He also urged the technical committee to resolve the cases of possible flooding of low areas and request of the Ajegunle community for an overpass, though he argued that the FG cannot be building overpasses everywhere.
“During the raining season, we will observe where the construction has led to flooding as citizens that have given us land must enjoy the sacrifice they made and when it happens we will correct those mistakes”.
On the Ibadan – Kano project, he elucidated that though the FG is ready with its counterpart funding, it is waiting for China Exim Bank to disburse the loan that has been approved.
The inspection began at Apapa in Lagos State and ended in Ibadan, Oyo State as the minister stopped at all the train stations to access facilities under construction.
https://any.peopleandpowermag.com/lagos-ibadan-railway-fg-decry-disruption-of-movement-of-train-into-apapa-port-by-tanker-drivers-terminal-owners/
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