Nigeria

Rotimi Amaechi says FG will ban heavy cargo transport by road

Monday, February 03, 2020 at 6:44 AM by Kess Ewubare

-The federal government says it will ban the movement of certain category of cargoes on some roads after the completion of major railways in the country

- Rotimi Amaechi, the minister of transportation notes that it is important to transfer the movement of some goods to rail from road

- The minister says the highways will last longer when certain types of cargo are not be allowed to go by road

The federal government has disclosed that it will ban the movement of certain categories of cargoes on some roads after the completion of major railways in the country.

Rotimi Amaechi, the minister of transportation, made the disclosure on Saturday, February 1, when speaking at an economic in Lagos, The Cable reports.

The minister, who said it is important to transfer the movement of some goods to rail from road, noted that the movement of cargo by rail is faster than by road.

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He added the highways will last longer when certain types of cargo are not be allowed to go by road.

The minister said Nigeria is working towards possessing the technology to construct railways in 10-years time.

He said about 150 Nigerians were being trained in China on railway construction.

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Meanwhile, the minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has suggested that the Lagos-Ibadan speed railway project will be fully completed by April, 2020.

The Nation reports that minister said the lack of support from land owners, delay in bringing the equipment from China and theft were some of the reason that have caused the project to slow down

Amaechi also said that the laying of tracks will get to Moniya in Ibadan, Oyo state, in a month’s time, adding that there has been huge improvement in the entire project.

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He also disclosed that the federal government recently signed a deal of $3.9 billion with China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) for the construction of the Abuja-Itakpe railway.

Amaechi said that the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agreement states that Nigeria will take care of 15% of the cost, while CRCC will handle 10% of it.

In another report, members of the House of Representatives have discovered that N1.2 billion is missing from the coffers of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC). Lawmakers of House committee on public accounts said the corporation failed to defend an allegation that the money was missing from its coffers.

Speaking on the missing fund, the chairman of the committee, Wole Oke, on Tuesday, December 17, said the NRC management had appeared before it based on an audit inquiry by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.

Daily Trust reports that Oke said the audit process showed for 2013 and 2014 financial years some discrepancies which led to the House stepping down the budget defence by the corporation.