Oluyinka Onigbinde
The Federal Ministry of Transportation has said it will organize a tripartite meeting with Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) over the demolition of NCS scanner obstructing the Apapa railway.
Speaking during an inspection of the ongoing rail construction at the Apapa Port on Tuesday, Senator Gbemisola Saraki, Minister of State for Transportation, stated that the Customs facility has stalled the completion of the railway construction; Saraki assured that a meeting will be slated soonest to address the problem.
She said: “We are here to look at the issues affecting activities to connect the rail to the Apapa seaport. As you can see, the construction of this standard gauge has been ongoing for more than two years and I came here to inspect the activities.”
“We want to ensure that before the end of next month, the activities here have improved. By the end of this month, we want to ensure that the removal of this Customs facility which is on the rail track is resolved. The goal is to have this track operational by the end of this month”
“Although this building looks big, it is actually a minor issue that will be resolved by the time the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) sit together to discuss it.”
She however noted that it has been agreed that the building is going to be demolished.
“The fact is that the building is a radioactive facility. It is a scanner and we have to ensure that the demolition is done safely by the right personnel,” she added.
Meanwhile, the Minister said that the state of Tin Can Island seaport has shown decades of neglect.
Saraki also called for a total reconstruction of the quay walls of the Tin Can Island Port complex which she said has become weak due to age.
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She also restates that it is important to modernize the ports and get it ready for bigger vessels.
“We cannot build on a weak foundation, it is vital that we get these two very important ports modernized and ready to berth modern vessels. The state of the Ports shows decades of neglect but it’s better late than never”
Reacting to this, the NPA Managing Director, Mohammed Bello Koko who was represented by the Executive Director Marine & Operation; Onari Brown said “the Authority is aware of the need to urgently reconstruct the port, and is working with the Federal Ministry of Transportation on the best funding option to adopt”.
Bello Koko said “We are on the verge of concluding discussions with multilateral funding agencies to fund the reconstruction. The other option is to go to the government to request that the NPA be allowed to use a certain percentage of its revenue which is transferred to the Consolidated Revenue Fund on yearly basis to fund the reconstruction” he said.
Saraki was accompanied on the tour by the Chairman, House Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration, Hon. Linda Ikpeazu; Managing Director of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Engr. Fidet Okhiria; Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh; NPA Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Ms Adenrele Adesina; NPA Executive Director, Marine and Operations, Hon. Onari Brown.
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