Nigeria’s Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has urged the promoters of the Lekki Deep Seaport project to invest in rail project to connect the new port to the Lagos-Calabar rail line in order to reduce pressure on truck movement on the nation’s roads.
Speaking when he visited the port on Sunday in Lagos, the Minister said that the new port would receive cargo handling equipment in June and commence full operation in September.
According to the report by Ships and Ports, a specialized maritime publication, the Minister’s advice followed the fears being expressed by Lagos residents that since the Lekki port is not connected to the rail line, cargo evacuation will be by trucks through the narrow and already congested Lekki-Epe road.
“As a Minister of Transportation, I imagine a lot of things that I could have implemented. I imagined that the Lagos-Calabar rail line would start from here; that was my imagination. But the Lagos-Calabar rail project needs $11.1 billion funding,” the report quoted Mr. Amaechi as saying.
The Minister also said that the new port would be contributing up to $360 billion to the Nigerian economy over 45 years.
“This is the first seaport in Nigeria. What we had all these while are river ports. Tin Can is a river port; Apapa is a river port and Port Harcourt is a river port. Right here you have 16.5 meters draft, which is good for the country.
“But the country needs more than just one of these ports because of the increase in commercial activities in the future. We need just more than Lagos deep seaport and for me, before I leave office I will emphasise on the construction of the Bonny deep seaport,” he said.
The Lekki Deep Seaport is being promoted by Tolaram Group, while the construction is being undertaken by China Harbour Engineering.
GIK/APA