Managing Director of concessionaires of the Kaduna Dry Port; Inland Container Nigeria Limited (ICNL); Mr Yusuf Ismail has assured that the Kaduna port is ready for use.
He told Shipping Position Daily in Lagos last week ahead of the preliminary inspection of the facilities by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council that it took the concessionaires a long time to get to where it is today.
He said ICNL has been in the business for about 30 years and that the experience of operating inland container depots in Kaduna and Kano helped the company to be on top of the game of constructing the dry port facilities.
When asked if the dry port is ready for commission, he explained that as far as ICNL was concerned, the port is ready, but added that the final say was the responsibility of the Nigerian Shippers’Council and the Federal Ministry of Transportation.
“Before we can operate as a dry port, yes we must upgrade our facilities from an inland container depot to a dry port. Shippers Council gave us a list of what to do, and we have complied, that is why we told them to come and inspect”, he told Shipping Position Daily.
“I can not say specifically when it would be commissioned; it is the Shippers’ Council that can say that. Remember also that Shippers’ Council is a parastatal under the Ministry of Transport, there is a head there, which is the Minister. I know the minister is also very keen about the dry port project, he will want to be there”.
Mr Yusuf explained that ICNL had committed more than N1Billion to upgrade the facilities in Kaduna to a dry port, and that it took that long to meet the requirement, because the list of facilities to be provided by concessionaires was quite long. He said the final cost of the port runs into Billions of Naira.
“It was a bit easier for us because, we were operating our container terminals in Kano and Kaduna simultaneously. We were using funds generated from the two to fund the construction of the dry port. With what we have achieved now, we can commence operations, but it is up to the Shippers’ Council to give us the go-ahead”, he stated.
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