Buhari to commission Nigeria’s first inland dry port in Kaduna

President Muhammadu Buhari will on Thursday, commission Nigeria’s first inland dry port in Kakuri, Kaduna State.

The President will also commission 10 new coaches and 2 locomotives for the Kaduna – Abuja train service.

A Dry Port is an inland intermodal terminal directly connected by road, rail and air to a sea port and operating as a centre for trans-shipment of sea cargo to inland destinations.

A statement by the Director, Special Duties of the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Mr. Ignatius Nweke, said the port which is among the seven dry ports being promoted by the Council was built by Kaduna Inland Dry Port Limited and has the capacity to handle 29,000 tonnes of cargoes yearly at the first phase of operation and likely to double when fully completed.

It is also estimated to generate no fewer than 5000 direct employment at the commencement of operations.

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He said, “The Kaduna Dry Port which is the first of its kind in Nigeria would receive cargo from Apapa Port in Lagos, through the railway or by road and also export goods through the same channel”.

The idea to establish Inland Container Depots in the hinterland, he explained, was informed by the need to reduce the congestion in Lagos ports and provide relief for the busy Apapa road.

He said the port, when commissioned will provide an easy process for the exportat of farm produce from Kaduna and neighbouring states as well as landlocked areas.

Other approved locations of Inland Dry Ports already concessioned to private sector operators by the ICDs Implementation Committee of the Federal Ministry of Transportation are Isiala Ngwa (Abia State), Erunmu, Ibadan (Oyo State), Heipang (Plateau State), Zawachiki (Kano State), Zamfarawa, Funtua (Katsina State) and Maiduguri (Borno State).

 

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