After successfully turning the sod at virtually all the sites for the Inland Container Depots (ICDs), the Nigerian Shippers’ Council has attributed the delay in take-off of the products to kidnapping and religious unrests in some pars of the country.
According to the Council’s executive secretary, Capt. Adamu Biu while fielding questions at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum in Abuja recently, concessionaires have expressed fears of kidnapping and religious crises and these fears are slowing down the implementation of the Inland Container Depots (ICD) projects.
The Shippers’ Council boss disclosed that the issue came up at a recent meeting between the Minister of Transport, Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman, and the concessionaires in Abuja .
He said the concessionaire at Isiala-Ngwa, Abia, refused to go to the site with his foreign partner for fear of being kidnapped while, in Plateau, the concessionaire declined going to the site because of religious crises.
However, Biu said that the concessionaires in areas that were free of political turmoil had been given a 30-month deadline to complete the projects.
He also said red-tapism and delays in obtaining Certificates of Occupancy also slowed down construction at the sites, noting that it took up to three years to obtain one.
According to him, this is regrettable because it is only with the Certificates of Occupancy that concessionaires can access funds.
However, he said that the NSC had given the concessionaires in Kano, Isiala-Ngwa, Maiduguri , Ibadan , Funtua and Jos Certificates of Occupancy and moved them to site.
Biu said the concessionaires would be allowed to operate the ICDs for between 25 years and 30 years and then transfer them to the government.
“Because the ICDs are privately funded, it would cost each concessionaire between N2.5 billion and N3 billion to construct; they have to look for funds and foreign partners,’’ he said.
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