Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, has assured that substantial portion of the ongoing rehabilitation of rail track in the Eastern corridor from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri, would be completed latest by December, to enable trains to move from Port-Harcourt to Gombe.
The minister gave the assurance at the weekend, while speaking with journalists at Inkil in Bauchi, shortly after inspecting the ongoing rehabilitation work, saying that over 90 per cent of the work had been completed so far.
According to Senator Umar, “At the moment, we are rehabilitating and indeed, we completed over 90 per cent of the rehabilitation exercise and that we hope by December, substantial portion of this particular important corridor from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri, will be completed. The only portion that will probably be left will be from Bajoga to Buni Yadi up to Maiduguri. This is because of the obvious reason we all know; the security challenges around Maiduguri side.
“We have every assurances from the contractor and all the supervising engineers on site that by the end of November, latest by December this year, the train will start moving from Port Harcourt to Gombe and indeed beyond Gombe.”
He expressed satisfaction with the level of performance so far by the contractor handling the rehabilitation work, informing that the corridor had a total of 3,505 kilometres of narrow gage out of which over 90 per cent had been rehabilitated.
He declared that the completion of the rehabilitation work would help ease transportation of passenger as well as freight movement, adding that rail transportation was going to regain its lost glory in the country soon.
On his part, the Managing Director, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Engineer Adeseyi Sijuwade, stated that they were in Bauchi to witness the final rehabilitation from Kuru in Plateau State to Gombe and Bajoga, expressing confidence that the December deadline for the completion of rehabilitation of rail tracks in the corridor would be met.
He said that once this was achieved, train operation from Port Harcourt in the South-South geopolitical zone of the country through the South-East to Gombe and Bajoga in the North-East would commence immediately.
He added that as soon as the current insecurity in the North-East was resolved, rehabilitation of rail tracks and train operation would be extended to Maiduguri.
Speaking on the safety of passengers and goods, Sijuwade stated that there was no cause for worry as all trains were being accompanied by mobile policemen and other security outfits who monitored all trains.
According to him, in order to motivate staff, the NRC was enhancing staff welfare, adding that management was introducing end of year bonus for staff from the end of this year, adding that all issues with staff union had be resolved.
Source: Tribune
