Est. read time: 2 minutes
3-years After, Customs Building Stopping Us From Evacuating Containers By Rail-CCECC
Fred Omotara, Lagos
The Deputy Managing Director of the China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC), Mr. Xia Lijun on Wednesday lamented to the Joint National Assembly Committee on Land Transport that three years after several efforts were made to remove a Customs building sitting along the standard gauge rail track inside APM Terminals, the building is still there and is a major reason why cargo evacuation by rail on the standard gauge trains has not commenced.
Speaking in Ibadan when the Joint National Assembly Committee came on an oversight inspection, Mr. Xia Lijun stated that, “We have five standard gauge rail and three narrow gauge rail all linked to the Apapa port in Lagos.
“However, despite connecting the port, we cannot move containers by rail on the standard gauge trains because there is a building belonging to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) sitting on the rail track inside APM Terminals.
“We have made repeated efforts to remove that building, but it has all been fruitless. It’s now three years since we have been asking that the Customs building should be removed, but nothing of such has been done.
“Yes, we are moving passengers on the standard guage rail, but the real money is in the movement of cargoes. If we cannot move cargoes by standard gauge trains, then we are not breaking even when it comes to profit making