By Ijeoma Nwankpa, Abuja, Nigeria.
The Minister of Transportation,
Honorable Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, says the Kano – Kaduna standard guage rail project is presently being funded through the budget as the loan for project is yet to be concluded with the Chinese government.
Amaechi stated this during the inspection of the on- going Kano- Kaduna standard gauge rail project in Kano.
He expressed optimism that if funded, the project could still be completed within the 18 months stipulated timeline, insisting that the contractors must break the project into different gangs for easy completion.
“Going by the way we are going if we fund them, the project contractors would complete the work within the 18 months timeline. But they must go by the conversation we had with them in the office which is that they must break this project into different gangs so that everybody is working at the same time and leaving at the same time. If they do that I am sure that before May 2023, you will have commercial activities on this rail.
On the accessibility of the stations, Amaechi said the stations were located with easy access of the people who are going to use it in mind, stressing that the reason for construction of the rail project is essentially for movements of passengers and especially cargoes.
“The most economic nerve centers in Nigeria is Kano. Why this track is the most economically viable track is because of Kano and Lagos. The economic activities that take place in Kano can be conveyed to Lagos, vis a vis those who import from Lagos can also do the same thing. So it will create jobs, so the economic value here would be much more than it was before the construction” he said.
The Minister further added that the project would also help decongest both Kaduna and Abuja, adding that the workers can work in Abuja and live in Kano using the trains to go to work on a daily basis.
He expressed satisfaction about the quality of work so far, and commended TEAM Nigeria, the consulting firm in charge of supervision of the project.
“I never denied that there is financial challenges and that is because of economic down turn. The Chinese are not funding the way they used to fund us. Now up till now, we are yet to conclude the loan on this project so we are funding this project from the budget. That is why when you asked the question about completion, I was skeptical. I used the word if funded , we are putting pressure on all the necessary institutions that used to give us loan, hopefully I don’t know wether before May we get enough money to complete this project, but currently we are funding through the budget. We will approach Ministry of Finance again to fund us within this period hoping that between now and May we should be able to get the loan” he noted.
Amaechi confirmed that government was currently in talks with Standard Chartered Bank for loan.
“We are negotiating with Standard Chartered Bank for loan”, he stated.
On local content, Amaechi said the Government is encouraging not only the use of local materials but passing some of the jobs to local contractors in Nigeria so that the country would harness not only the economic benefits but also the financial benefits, stressing that it would make more sense if Nigerians are involved and are part of the process.
” it is not good for the Chinese to come here and we borrow 2 billion and they take the whole profit and go to their country. They should also spend part of it on the country.
On the Intra City Rail Transportation, the Minister said it was the state government’ s duty to construct inter- state rails, stating that the only two states that are likely to benefit from the intra city rail transport are Rivers and Lagos states.
According to him, Lagos route will terminate in Calabar, while the Port Harcourt rail will terminate in Maiduguri because the rail will take part of the city in two different ways same with Rivers state, while at a point Lagos Calabar will have to meet with Port Harcourt Railway and run side by side inside some parts of these major cities.
