Apapa port rail tracks ready next month, says minister

BY MIKE OCHONMA

Nigerian port users, importers and exporters will soon start to enjoy the quick evacuation of goods through the rail from Apapa port terminals to other parts of the country as the standard gauge rail track under construction to the port terminals will be completed within the next month.

This assurance is coming from the minister of state for transportation, Gbemisola Saraki, during an inspection of the rail track at Apapa recently as part of her weeklong transport and maritime stakeholders’ engagement.

The minister who was in Lagos to inspect projects under her ministry was accompanied by the managing director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, Fidet Okhiria, top officials of the NRC, and project manager of the China Civil Engineering Construction Company, Xia Lijun.

She said the Nigeria Customs Service scanner centre and whatever structures obstructing the rail track would be pulled down.

She said though there are issues to be settled, upon her return to Abuja, officials from her ministry, the management of the Customs Service and the Nigerian Ports Authority would meet to settle them.

The completion of the rail track will facilitate moving goods from the Apapa port through the standard gauge line to many parts of the country, thereby encouraging smooth transportation of goods from the port.