Babajide Okeowo
Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, during his monthly routine inspection of the Lagos-Ibadan railway project, expressed scepticism that the project might not be ready for commissioning by May 2020 as previously expected.
This, he partly attributed, to the inability of the vessels bearing the materials to be used by the company in charge of the project China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) to berth at the Apapa Port due to the congestion and due to the amount of work yet to be completed in the extension of the rail line to the Apapa seaport.
The minister, who inspected the project from Apapa Ports in Lagos, was accompanied by the Minister of State for Transportation, Gbemisola Saraki, Governor Seyi Abiodun Makinde of Oyo State, Chairman, Board of Directors, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Malam Ibrahim Al-Hassan Musa; Managing Director of NRC, Fidet Okhiria.
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According to the minister, “Looking at the state of work in Apapa, completing the project in April doesn’t seem feasible, especially the extension of the rail line to the seaport.
“We have a lot of demolition to do; you have to deal with pipes, you have to deal with oil pipes even when you get to the seaport but in terms of tracks from Agege to Ibadan, it was smooth.
“Again, the second excuse they have is that their vessels are at the seaport and they cannot even berth because of the long queue. We will address it when we meet with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to see how they can come forward because we really need to complete this thing as soon as possible.
“On the April may deadline, I can’t answer that question. When you ask them (the contractors), they will still tell you it’s true” he said.
Recall that the minister had stated, last year, that the rail project would be completed in April 2020 and inaugurated in May.