The Federal Government has said that it will develop inland waterways transportation to ensure seamless movement of cargoes by barges to their ports of destination.
Mu’azu Sambo, the Minister of Transportation, gave the assurance in a statement by the ministry’s spokesperson, Mr Eric Ojiekwe, in Abuja.
According to the statement, the minister spoke at the ongoing 2022 ministerial retreat in Uyo.
The minister said that the Federal Government was committed to opening up the routes to ensure easy movement of containers.
We want to see containers and other cargoes in barges move from Lagos through the intra-coastal routes to the hinterlands, he said.
According to Sambo, the process would involve the clearing of the waterways, canalisation and effective canal management.
Also, he said that the ministry had started the discussing with a company that was willing to commence work anytime in November.
Our dream is to move containers from Marina in Lagos to Onitsha in Anambra, and even to Baru in Niger, he said.
Furthermore, Sambo stated that the implementation of the Lagos-Calabar coastal railway project was affected by paucity of funds.
He also added that the China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC), contractor handling the project, had not provided its 85 per cent counterpart funding.
The Federal Government is to provide 15 per cent of the counterpart funding for that project.We are holding talks with an investor that is willing to provide the funds. We need to determine how to share the works between the investor and CCECC.The coastal rail line project is very important, it is one that connects all the port cities of Nigeria, he said.
The minister said that by connecting all the port cities by rail, it would be easier to open up the Eastern Ports.