Properties belonging to the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) including the old railway yard inside the Apapa seaport complex and buildings located the rail compound near the Ebute Metta Junction (EBJ) occupying the identified right of way (RoW) has been pulled down by the federal government to pave the way for the standard gauge rail line being constructed by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC).
Meanwhile, the proposed demolition of some parts of Floor Mills which is located on the railway properties is yet to commence and as a result because of the slow pace of demolition exercise. The minister did not confirm the exact date the project will be completed.
As result of the snail speed, Amaechi said a joint stakeholders meeting between the Federal Ministry of Transportation, CCECC, the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and TEAM Nigeria which is the technical advisers of the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge project is slated to take place this week to address some of the challenges inside the port complex.
Read also: Minister rules out Apapa seaport April rail extension target
Briefing newsmen at the end of the Monday inspection, he said that, the worst pace of work he encounted is between Ebutte-Metta to Apapa port complex where he regretted that the contractors has ben giving all sorts of excuses and that a result a meeting will take place between him and management of CCECC.
Recall that in July 2018, the federal government directed CCECC the contractor handling the project to extend its work from Ebute Meta to Apapa measuring about five kilometres as part of measures to facilitate the movement of goods from the Lagos seaports to other parts of the country by rail.
The decision to bring it forward was informed by the need to address the near stagnation of import and export business due to the gridlock on roads leading to Apapa and the Lagos seaports. Although the extension to Apapa seaport is in the second phase of the standard gauge railway project.
He said that the intended massive rail station to be built inside the Apapa port when completed would not basically focus on passengers but for freight purposes, where goods can be stored after clearance from the port. It will have a warehouse, hotel and a shopping mall to serve Apapa port and the seaport.
The minister said that the old facility is not the size of station that is ideal within the seaport going by the increasing number of economic and commercial actitvities at the port.’’What we are looking for is a bigger station and this is too small, since we have the whole property down to the road’’.
Two years ago, the minister had said, “We have come to inspect what the Apapa station looks like. The station will be moved backward to the centre of the road since all the property around here belongs to the NRC”.
