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| Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi |
The Minister for
Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has said that the Federal Government is
negotiating a six-billion dollar loan with the Chinese government to complete
the Ibadan to Kano rail track.
Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has said that the Federal Government is
negotiating a six-billion dollar loan with the Chinese government to complete
the Ibadan to Kano rail track.
Amaechi made this known on Tuesday in Abuja during a news conference on the
overhaul of the transport sector since the inception of the current
administration.
overhaul of the transport sector since the inception of the current
administration.
According to Ameachi, completing the Ibadan to Kano corridor among others in
the country will help to boost the nation’s economy.
He said: “We are currently in negotiation with the China EXIM bank to get
nearly about six billion dollars to do from Ibadan to Kano.
“It is a difficult decision because the money required is about 8 billion dollars
to do the double track but the Chinese are insisting that they cannot fund
double track so they are asking us to do a single track.
“They are asking us to do a single track and they want it at Minna so that
instead of going from Minna to Kaduna, we should go from Minna to Abuja and
then join it from Abuja to Kaduna.
“But there are those who argue that we should not accept that, rather we should
tell them (Chinese) to fund it in segments. This, however, does not make
economic sense.
“We are compelled to adjust just to have movement of goods, personnel and
services from Lagos to Kano.
“What makes economic sense is the ability to get the track to a seaport so
that we can move goods.
“What makes economic sense to rail services is the movement of goods.’’
Amaechi said that the ministry was also in talk with some companies in America
to fund the Lagos to Calabar rail corridor and another Chinese company to fund
Port Harcourt to Maiduguri corridor.
He explained that this was in line with the directives of President Muhamaddu
Buhari that the rail lines must reach all state capitals.
The minister of transportation said that there was also a huge improvement in
the water transportation sector.
Amaechi said that on the approval for waterways security, 195 million dollars
had been approved as he expressed confidence that it would help reduce crime in
the maritime sector.
According to him, the Federal Government has approved l 195 million dollars to
hire an Israeli company to help train security personnel to man the waterways.
He said under the watch of the current administration, the Nigerian Maritime
and Safety Agency had moved from contract awarding to a proper regulatory
agency.
Amaechi said that the aviation sector had also experienced a great overhaul
which improved safety without incidence of plane crash during the current
administration.
He said to ensure the continued safety in the aviation sector; the Federal
Government would ensure that equipment and policies remained in place.
