The awaited Aba Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Avor Intigha, in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area of Abia State, will soon be realized, following interest shown by the new administration in the State, BusinessDay has gathered.
A source told BusinessDay that preparation for construction and operation of the facility is almost completed by Abia State Government and Eastgate-concessionaires to the project, as the State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, has also been billed to meet with officials of the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC)-Federal Government’s ports economic regulator, to discuss modalities for the realisation of the project.
The new Government in Abia is expected to realise the project for the benefit of the people, as the multiplier effect of such a facility cannot be over emphasized, the source said.
The ICD project was initiated to ease off congestion at the country’s ports as well as provide fast track clearing services to importers in the country, of which Aba has a large number.
Out of the six ICDs recommended to be built across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria; the Aba ICD was the first to be issued with a certificate of occupancy, a feat which Adamu Biu, former chief executive officer of NSC, observed was as a result of the good relationship that exists between the host community and the concessionaire, as well as the doggedness of the management of Eastgate to realise the project.
Based on the arrangement, the Abia State Government is to provide infrastructure and other logistics for Eastgate to move in and develop as well as manage the terminal.
EastGate, concessionaires to the project were issued with a certificate of occupancy in 2008 by the Nigerian Shippers Council, while the agreement for the commencement of the physical development of the project was signed in 2009.
All the parties to the project, including the Federal and Abia State Governments, Nigeria Shippers Council and the Concessionaire-Eastgate Inland Terminal Limited, expressed their commitment to ensuring realisation of the Aba ICD, believed to be the most viable of the six ICDs proposed for different parts of the country.
The project, which is to be executed under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement, BusinessDay gathered, has been stalled, due to civil service protocols, a situation, which a source said would, not have cropped up, if the project were to be executed by the concessionaires alone.
BusinessDay also gathered that the project estimated to gulp about N70 million, would now be executed at a whopping sum of more than N100 million, no thanks to the world economic meltdown, which resulted to further devaluation of the naira.
GODFREY OFURUM
