Ondo State Government said it’s presently working towards obtaining from the Federal Government, a Port Declaration for the planned Deep Seaport project in the state.
The development of a deep seaport project in Ondo State will generate more than N500 billion investments to the host communities in Ilaje Local Government Area where government is proposing to establish the port, says Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, Governor of the State.
Speaking at the stakeholders’ forum relating to the Environmental Site Investment Assessment (ESIA) and Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) for the project, where he met with traditional rulers and representatives of the community in Akure, Ondo State capital on Wednesday, Akeredolu assured that the project remains at top priority list of the state.
Also present were the consultants to the project, representatives of the Federal and State Ministry of Environment and Community Based Organisations (CBOs).
Akeredolu, while soliciting the support of the host communities and traditional rulers towards the actualisation of the project, said the State Government had spent hundreds of millions of naira on carrying out the required studies by local and international consultants.
“The deep seaport and the Industrial City project will attract massive investment to the State in particular and Nigeria in general. The one singular project that will change this State totally is the port. Building the port alone will bring about N500 billion economic activities to that area,” he said.
According to him, the port is the most serious business and important project the state government wants to embark on, adding that every other thing in the State has become secondary.
“We don’t have money but we will set aside as many projects as we can to get this port done so that its quality will meet the standard expected of us by the Federal Government,” he said.
Akeredolu, stated that the state government has three levels of efforts to put into the project, which include getting declaration from Federal Government, the work to be done level an creating enabling environment for the consultants to do their work in the affected communities.
He assured affected communities whose property, farm lands and means of livelihood would be affected by the construction of the seaport, of adequate compensation and relocation to comfortable sites.
This, he said, is why government places premium on the processes and procedures of the Environmental Site Investment Assessment (ESIA) and the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP).
Boye Oyewumi, special adviser, Development and Investment/CEO, Ondo State Development and Investment Promotion Agency (ONDIPA), said the port, upon completion, will be a game changer not just for the State but the country.
He said it is expected that the OBC, which is the last set of reports for the port declaration would be completed before the end of April.
The various traditional rulers present at the meeting including the Olugbo of Ugbo kingdom, and Oba Fredrick Obateru Akinruntan, chairman, Ondo State Council of Obas, assured Governor Akeredolu of unalloyed support and cooperation of the Ilaje community in ensuring the realisation of the port project in view of its benefits to the state.
The site of the proposed Port of Ondo, which also has an industrial city with Free Trade Zone status, measures 2,771.2 hectares, and it is accessible from Ore through a new dual carriageway, which will be constructed from Araromi to Lekki in Lagos and when completed, it will take only 45 minutes from the port to Lagos.
