BEVERLY HILLS, May 21, (THEWILL) – Chairman of the South-East Senate Caucus, Enyinnaya Abaribe, has asked the Minister of Transport, Chibuike Amaechi to explain why the South-East corridor of the proposed standard gauge rail lines was scheduled for concessionaires to build while other corridors would be built with funds borrowed by the Federal Government to be paid back by every part of the country.
The Abia North senator had on Tuesday regretted that the South-South, South-East corridors were omitted in the $5.8 billion China Exim Bank loan sought by the Federal Government to develop rail lines in parts of the country. He stated this in a motion entitled: ‘Outright Omission of Eastern Corridor Rail Line in the Request for Approval of Federal Government 2016-2017 External Borrowing (Rolling Plan)’.
But countering this position, Amaechi insisted that the South East was not excluded from the rail project as alleged by the Senator. Reacting through a statement issued by the Federal Ministry of Transport, he pointed out that Aba in Abia State and Onitsha in Anambra State were among towns covered by the coastal railway corridor.
Responding however, Abaribe said: “My motion is not only about the South East, but about the second major Railway corridor in Nigeria, built by the British, which covers South South, South East, North Central and North East.”
He asked Amaechi to explain why rail lines in the South-East corridor were billed for concession, while rail lines in other parts of the country would be built with funds borrowed by the Federal Government and which the entire the country would pay.
The lawmaker argued that his motion on the matter was not only about the South-East but “about the second major railway corridor in Nigeria, built by the British, which covers the South-South, South-East, North-Central and the North-East”.
According to him, “The corridor is from Port Harcourt (Rivers State) to Maiduguri (Borno State). It covers over 100 towns and major cities, not about Aba or Onitsha; far from it. It industrialised many cities and gave jobs directly and indirectly to thousands.
“In addition, the letter from Mr. President seeking for expedited action on approval of the loan did not specify when the eastern corridor would be modernised. It said that negotiations were on to get a concessionaire for the eastern line. In other words, while we borrow for the western line, we must wait to get some entity interested to concession it (eastern line).”
On why the South East Railway corridor cannot wait for next phase as proposed by Senator Gbenga Ashafa, the Abia-North Senator said, “if it is our collective money saved out of our earnings, we can wait for the next season, but since it is collective debt, why don’t we endeavour to borrow enough and stimulate the growth of every region at the same period? “Don’t you know that Railways more than any other infrastructure is critical to the growth of the economy. It is a big catalyst for the creation of jobs and creation of new towns.
“Besides, all those on the over 100 towns and villages served by the eastern line would suffer double jeopardy by paying twice. Once for the collective debt and also for the concession costs which would be borne solely by them.
“What must be done now? It is my candid view that the Federal Ministry of Transport should approach the Chinese Exim bank or any other source to raise the requisite funds to execute the Port Harcourt – Maiduguri Railway Corridor; what is good for the goose is good for the gander,” he said.
