- says train to freight 90 containers to Ibadan daily
By Demilade Aderibigbe
The dream of decongesting Apapa Ports came alive on Tuesday, as the Minister of Transportation Senator Saidu Alkali flagged off cargo movement on the standard gauge from the APM Terminal, Apapa.
The minister said that the inauguration of the freight train from Apapa Ports to Ibadan would move 90 40 feet container cargoes on daily basis. He said the cargo freight can run thrice a day and had the capacity of carrying 30 40 feet containers at each trip, with shipper having the opportunity of returning their empty cargo by the train.
He said the freight train would decongest the ports and save shippers from accumulation of demurrage as a return of inability to return empties back to the terminal operators.
According to the minister, only one track would be functioning for now and would be made use of by the Nigerian Railway Corporation until the Nigeria Customs Service removes the Scanning building standing on the tracks which is stopping the completion of the remaining two tracks into the ports complex.
“The ministry is going to liaise with the Minister of Finance and the Customs concerning the demolition of the scanning centre which is affecting the completion of the remaining tracks into the ports.
“After laying the two remaining tracks, the cargos will get out of ports seamlessly and the two remaining lines will enter the ports,” Alkali said.
Also speaking, the NRC Managing Director, Mr Fidet Okhiria, said the railway is happy that the cargo freight is coming up during the regime of the new minister.
Okhiria said though the railway had been deploying freights on the narrow gauge even to Kano before, it had to stop due to the challenges of insecurity and bad sections of the tracks. He said the corporation is happy that the minister is inaugurating the freight movement of cargos to Papalanto and Moniya, in Ibadan.
“What we are using temporary is the transitional line, as we continue to make headway to ensuring the eventual pull down of the Customs building which would enable us have the three lines that is slated for port operations.
“We resorted to using the transitional line in order to ensure that the operation start so that we don’t give room for vandalization, when the tracks is not in use the it is vulnerable to vandalisation,” Okhiria said.
He said that if the track was used frequently that people would see the value and respect the tracks.
The Executive Director, Bueno Logistics, Mazi Jetson Nwankwo, whose firm is partnering with the railway to commence the freight movement said that he had been working in ensuring that railway was optimally utilised and decongest the roads.
“Currently we are partnering with the Nigerian Railway Corporation and the terminals operators to help Lagos to decongest its roads from container trucks.
“The new standard gauge line that has entered APM Terminal is a big deal, it will be able to carry at least 60 containers at a go from Apapa complex, and if we do that every day, soon, you will see a drop in the number of containers on the bridges.
“The deal is to move the containers from Apapa port complex to Moniya in Ibadan where we have a very big freight terminal.
The tour took the new minister to visit the facility at the Mobolaji Johnson Station at Ebute Meta, Yaba, the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Station at Apapa, and the Prof Yemi Osinbajo Station at Kajola, where he also inspected the Kajola Wagon Assembly Plant where the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) already stacked some fully assembled wagons and ready for operations.
The minister took a tour of the Wagon Assembly Plant and expressed happiness that the CCECC has gone very far not only in delivering on promises on job creation, saying that he is happy that the wagon can generate 5000 jobs for Nigerians. He said he would ensure that all existing contractual agreements that the nation has entered into would be sustained and that the Bola Tinubu administration is determined to sustain the drive on railway rehabilitation and modernisation saying it is the way to go for the country.