President Muhammadu Buhari has affirmed that Nigeria will retrieve the Port Harcourt old narrow gauge that has been lying in neglect for years and bring it to full functional state commensurate to a National railway service at a rational price.
The President also said narrow gauge railway project , Bonny deep sea and Railway Industrial Park will have the capability for processing exports of raw materials with value addition and also export of locally made goods.
President Buhari noted this virtually during the groundbreaking ceremony of the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Port Harcourt-Maiduguri Eastern barrow gauge railway project , Bonny deep sea and Railway Industrial Park in Port Harcourt.
According to him, Port Harcourt – Maiduguri railway will translate to reactivation of economic activities along the Eastern corridor, which has been greatly affected by insurgent activities and serve as a stimulus for industry and trade.
He said, the connection of the railway to a new seaport in Bonny Island and Railway Industrial Park, Port Harcourt is designed to increase the viability and boost transshipment of cargo and freight locally, across the West African sub-region and in the Continental Free Trade Area.
Also, the Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi explained that the effort of Government at rehabilitation of this rail line in year 2009 – 2012, did not achieve the desired outcome, partly due to inadequate funding and incompetence of some of the Contractors employed.
He explained that the railway project is to be co-financed by loan from a syndicate of Chinese financiers with Federal Government contribution of 15% project cost, the Bonny Deepsea port and Railway Industrial park, Port Harcourt are being developed through direct investment by the conglomerate led Messrs CCECC Nigeria Limited with a total investment portfolio of US$700Million.
“This investment gain can be attributed to the unrelenting effort of the Ministry.
Upon completion, trains on the Port Harcourt – Maiduguri Eastern Narrow Gauge Railway will run at 60 – 80 kilometers per hour Kph and 80 – 100 kilometers per hour Kph for freight and passenger respectively.
“The Bonny Deepsea port have a container terminal of 500,000 TEU (20 foot equivalent unit) per annum capacity and 100,000 DWT (Deadweight tonnage) Berth.
“The Railway Industrial park, Port Harcourt would be supported by necessary infrastructure (Power, Water, Waste Disposal, ICT, Gas distribution) as well as transportation, logistics centers and ancillaries,” he said.
