Amaechi blasts CCECC for the slow pace of construction on Lagos-Ibadan rail project

PAULETTE ORJIME- Abuja

 MINISTER of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi  has  blamed CCECC for  the slow pace of construction of stations along the rail Corridor.

Amaechi made this disapproval on Friday as he rounded off his 2019 monthly inspection of the on-going construction of the 156 kilometer Lagos-Ibadan standard guage rall line.

Speaking to journalists at the end of the inspection at the Ibadan end of the rail line, he criticised the pace of work of the contractor, Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC), saying there is need for them to improve, so that their complains and excuses will not repeat when they start work on the Ibadan-Kano standard gauge line in the later part of 2020. He blamed the company for not meeting up on timelines and coming up with many excuses.

This is even as he has urged the contractor to start sourcing locally some of the materials it uses on the project.

He said: “This is necessary because our people need employment. There is no reason why they should be importing basic things like tiles and window frames from their home country.  We have told them to use local materials at the Ibadan Station, once it’s successful, we will continue like that.

Amaechi, however lauded the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) for laying tracks to the end of kilometer 156, which he said is the end of contract.

The minister particularly noted that the Chinese company have done well in terms of track laying and track construction.

“I just told you that I quite disagreed with the pace of work in the stations. You would agree that this is the first time we are taking a train ride to Ibadan major station so we commend them that they have been able to get to end of the 156 Kilometers.

“We should commend them for at least getting to the end of the contract. The contract is from Apapa to Ibadan and the end of the Ibadan station is 156 Kilometers. And we have gotten to 156 kilometers. Even though they are going to work to 157, 158, that is just extra, by themselves not by the contract. When it comes to track laying and track construction, they have done well. Have they done well with stations? Here and there , ” the Minister said.

He reiterated that after the trial runs which allow all passengers to ride free of charge from Lagos to Ibadan ends in April, the train services become commercial.

There are about 10 train stations from Lagos to Ibadan, three are mega stations while seven are small stations, with the exception of one, it is work in progress at all the stations.

Also, Engr. Fidet Okhiria, the Managing Director of Nigerian Railway Corporation, said there are plans to increase number of Coaches on the route by end of January 2020.

He however, frowned at the actions of some passengers who drop pads and toilet rolls into the train’s toilet, stressing that such actions block the toilet which he explained are pressurized toilets.

“We should advocate that they should not drop those things in the toilet so that they will block it because it is a pressurized toilet” he said.

The NRC boss appealed to Nigerians to always understand that government property is their own, and desist from vandalizing it.

“When you vandalize and remove that thing you think is minor it can lead to death. So we should advocate and tell them that such act is just like throwing a bomb in the market, you do not know whether it is your relation that will be affected. They should avoid it”.00

He also said there are plans to continue to increase the frequency of train services and also number of the trains to ensure constant operations.