The federal government Sunday said due to paucity of funds, the construction of the planned Lekki-Calabar rail line may be delayed except if the promoter of the project, Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise Limited are willing to invest in the construction of the rail project.
The federal government’s decision is premised on the fact that it needs funds to execute other rail line projects currently going on across the country just as it said other ports along the coastal states need to be linked to the rail network.
Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, Sunday, noted that he desires to complete all the rail networks and construct new ones, but the lack of fund will compel government to think otherwise.
Meanwhile, the managing director, Lekki Deep Sea Port, Du Ruogang, stated that the port will contribute the sum of $360 billion to the Nigerian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 45 years and the management is expected to manage the facility before handing over to the federal government.
Fielding questions after a tour of the deep sea port at Lekki Sunday, Mr. Amaechi said: ” If you ask me as minister for Transportation, I imagine quite a lot of things and I wish I could implement all of them. You know I imagine that the Lagos-Calabar rail should start from here. But the project is $11.1 billion; we are not sure where that money is going to come from.
“But as minister, I will start from Benin to Port Harcourt, then to Calabar, it is only when we have finished that segment that I will start to think of how we will come from Benin to Lagos because there is already a rail from Lagos to Kano. So, for me, what makes economic sense is that there are other seaports around Warri, Calabar, Port Harcourt that need to be fed with rail too, just like the Tin Can and Apapa.”
Speaking on how the LFTZ Enterprise Limited can key into the project, he said: “Another advised I could give is that if they (LFTZ) want to invest in the rail, they can invest and then government will either give them tax deduction or do something to help pay them back. But for now, the FG does not have money to do that.”
The minister stated further, “but for me, if I get $11.1 billion as it is, we will probably divert the rail as it is, because Lagos-Calabar actually goes into Lagos, we could divert it to come to Epe to Lekki here to serve the purpose.”
