Amaechi commends progress of work at Lekki port

The Minister of Transportation, Hon. Chibuike Amaechi has commended the pace of work at the Lekki deep seaport and applauded the contractors for the work done so far.

Amaechi, who made the commendation during an inspection tour of the Lekki deep seaport over the weekend, urged the contractors to do more to beat the completion deadline.

According to a statement by the Director, Press and Public Relations, Eric Ojiekwe, Amaechi said, “The last time we came, there was no quay wall, just the breakwaters. But today there’s visible improvement. It doesn’t mean that you have delivered, it simply means that if you set your mind on something, you will achieve it.

“We are supposed to commission by September which is the old agreement, but if you double your efforts on this job we can commission by July”, he said.

He further insisted that, “The quay wall must be completed, the cranes, and the buildings; we get the President here, commission it, then if there is anything left you need to seek approval for, I can take it to the President for consideration, because it would be an embarrassment to the government if what you commission is not working”.

He advised the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to restrict human movement within the port, especially with the automation of the ports.

According to him, “Whatever you do, you must create a barrier so that as you walk into Customs, you have no access to any other part of the port, once you walk in, you walk out. And thankfully you’re automating the seaport. You don’t need to do physical documentation.

“All documentations should be done online. Some people will still not believe that the documentation online will work, so they will continue to come here. Restrict movement into these areas by making sure there is a fence between Customs and the terminal area,” Amaechi said.

He also instructed the Director, Railway in the Ministry of Transportation to conduct a study on the possibility of linking the Lekki port to Lagos-Ibadan railway.

On his part, the Chief Technical Officer, Lekki Port, Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ), Steven Heukelom explained that, “there’ll be gates and gate-passes, everything electronic. Very strict. There is a physical location here (for documentation) but the bulk of it will be done online. That is the automation part of this terminal.”

On his part, the Chief Operating Officer, Lekki Port LFTZ, Laurence Smith, thanked the Minister for commending their work so far, and appealed to the government for support in the construction of access roads.

“The coastal roads and the new 7th axial Road are key for the evacuation of goods from the Lekki axis. It is critical for the road works to be completed before commencement of port operations for ease of access to customers and stakeholders,” Smith said.

During the tour of the port, the company highlighted that a truck parking area for 300 trucks is being provided for, to avoid haphazard parking of trucks or parking on the road when the Port goes fully operational.

At the terminal area, the Customs building is being expanded into a full-fledged inspection area for proper inspection before trucks are allowed to evacuate the area. There’s also an area for impounded goods.

Construction is ongoing for the reefer containers, erection of light masts which will be 25metres high, so the whole area will be properly lit. Also, dredging and reclamation work is at 90 percent completion, while the Lekki free port terminal has begun recruitment for its operations.