It was jubilation yesterday in Rivers State, as the Minister of Transportation, Senator Said Alkali, officially flagged off the commencement of operation on the Port-Harcourt – Aba section of the 1443km Port-Harcourt -Maiduguri rail line project.
Recalled that to intensify drive by the federal government to facilitate trade, enhance mobility, accessibility and ensure connectivity between the Southern parts of the country and the North-eastern part of the country, the government commenced the rehabilitation of the 1443 km Port-Harcourt to Maiduguri narrow gauge rail project.
The project, which was awarded by the Federal Ministry of Transportation China Civil Engineering and Construction Company (CCECC) on October 16, 2020, with a completion timeline of 36 months, due to several technical and contractual issues commenced in March 2022.
The railway line is expected to link the ports of Onne, Bonny, and Port-Harcourt to facilitate evacuation of goods and sundry freight through the Eastern corridor.
The federal government in the contractual agreement is to provide 15 percent of Direct Construction Cost inclusive of land acquisition and Value Added Tax (VAT), while a bank loan through Direct Construction Cost is to cover 85 percent of the project.
He said: “Facilitation of the bank loan is in progress and is expected to be concluded soon. Thus, the progress achieved on project from inception in 2020 to the present date has been funded exclusively from the yearly budgetary allocation of the Federal Ministry of Transportation.”
With the completion of the rehabilitation of Port-Harcourt to Aba rail, the ministry will continue to vigorously drive CCECC towards the speedy completion and delivery of the 181 kilometres Aba-Enugu stretch.
Flagging-off commencement of the commercial services on the 62.0 kilometres of the Port-Harcourt to Aba rail line yesterday in Port Harcourt, Alkali said it would boost economic activities between the South-south and South-east region of the country pending completion of the other sections of the project.
The minister said the commencement of operations on the Eastern rail line project aligns with priority five of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s presidential priority areas which identifies ‘Enhanced Infrastructure and Transportation as Enablers of Growth’ to the economy.
He said: “We are here to inaugurate the rail line from Port Harcourt to Aba, through President Bola Tinubu, out of his desire to bring comfort to the people in this great country.
“You are aware that transportation is one of the eight priority areas of President Tinubu administration. When I took over as the Minister of Transportation, I went out to visit projects under the ministry. Not satisfied with the performance of the project I told the contractor we are going to put the segment in truce, here we are today.”
Alkali expressed delight that the project, which was initiated about three years ago, has seen the daylight.
According to him, “I am happy we are going to put one segment and from today, the passengers train from Port Harcourt to Aba will commence. By the grace of God Almighty we are going to proceed to Enugu and Port Harcourt to Onne Port, so that we will be able to put free service.
“We have engaged investors and we are still talking to put down the cost of transportation, and that has reached advanced stage. A journey of 1,000 miles starts with a step.”
On the guarantee that passengers will not experience hardship or breakdown of the train on transit, the minister assured Nigerians that: “This line has been on locomotive for barely one week now and we have not had issues and by the grace of God we will not have issues of break down along on the line.”
Courtesy ThisDay
