The Ogun state government has said that an Inland Depot Project (IDP) earlier planned to be sited along Papalanto-Iro road has continued to gather momentum as stakeholders in the project moved an inch towards actualizing the vision.
The state Commissioner for Transportation, Engr. Gbenga Dairo stated this during a stakeholders’ engagement meeting in Sagamu, between the state government and representatives of ARISE, the development partner of the project.
Engr. Dairo said that the project would take off immediately, as soon as all forms of certification and documentations by all concerned authorities were completed, and noted that the stakeholders’ engagement had to be held in order to fast-track the process.
He further revealed that invitations have been sent to the Federal Ministry of Environment to conduct an environmental and social impact assessment of the area just as the office of the Surveyor General has been requested to carry out a coordinate of the IDP site.
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Reteirating the present administration commitment to the development of the state, Engr. Dairo said the state government was very passionate about the project as it would open up the state for more commercial activities in the haulage transport sector, thus contributing immensely to the state IGR.
The Commissioner further said that when completed, the congestion witnessed dailies at the Apapa wharf would be reduced to the bearest minimum as many of the containers waiting to be hauled by the articulated trucks and sea port would have been carted by the carriage rails to the IDP thus, dis-congesting the Apapa port and opening up new frontiers of business at the Papalanto and Sagamu axial of the state.
Engr. Dairo said that there were opportunities to charge the development partners from ARISE group to swing into action once all the necessary background checks and work are completed.
It would be recalled that earlier in the second quarter of the year, the ARISE technical team visited the proposed IDP site for an assessment tour, while the technical team from the Nigeria Export Promotion Council also conducted an assessment tour and certified the site was fit for the project.
In attendance at the meeting were the state government delegation, headed by the Commissioner for Transportation, Engr. Gbenga Dairo and from ARISE were, Mr Manojkumar Bargat and Mr. Suren Abeywickrema.