PAULETTE ORJIME-Abuja
THE President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria ,Muhammadu Buhari would officially commission the Lagos -Ibadan railway in June.
The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi disclosed this at the weekend during the monthly inspection of the project in Ibadan.
Amachi who spoke with optimism added that he was yet to ascertain the exact date of the official commissioning of the project .
“In the Minister ‘s words, “I hope the Office of the President will approve the commissioning date in June, we’re not 100 percent ready, but we are hoping that by the time they give us a date in the next three weeks, we will be ready.
“We have almost come to the end of construction. There will be a little bit of erection here and there but what started in 2017 or 2018 is coming to a conclusion.
The Minister noted that, “The Eleven stations are ready. Some of the underpasses and some of the overpasses are also ready.The bridge at Constain that was demolished has been replaced .”
Amaechi observed that there are challenges confronting the rail line at Apapa seaport, and assured that the challenges would soon be surmounted.
“There are two challenges they (contractors) are talking about, the first one is a temporary challenge which they think they can resolve it within one month, but the entire thing that will take the rail line into the seaport may take another four months to six months.
“One thing we want to ensure that will happen is the movement of cargo from the seaport, don’t forget that there are two contracts here, first from Ebutte Meta to Ibadan and from Ebutte Meta to Apapa seaport.”
The Minister further stressed the importance of the rail line , “You can actually take a train to the seaport, but that is not just the end, we want to make sure that we are in position to move cargos from the seaport straight to the train, instead of transporting them (cargo) a little further to put them on the train.
“One thing we want to see happen is the movement of cargo from the seaport using the train as a means to decongest the ports.”
Reacting to questions on the vandalization of railway tracks and components on the Warri-Itakpe and Abuja-Kaduna corridors, Amaechi directed the Managing Director of the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) Engr. Fidet Okhiria to arrest both the vandals and dealers involved in the act.
According to the Minister, “We must approach the judiciary of all these things, to have courts that can dispense justice and send them to jail early enough to deter people, and finally, we encourage our Governors to see how they can create jobs.
Amaechi said , “Some people who have been vandalising our properties have been arrested.
“If they don’t buy those metals, slippers and others hers, nobody will steal them, ” the Minister noted.
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