NSC boss commends progress of work at Dala Inland Container Depot
Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Shippers’ Council (NSC), Emmanuel Jime, has expressed satisfaction with the level of progress recorded on the construction of the Dala Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Zawaciki, Kano.
This remark was made on Saturday by Jime while on an inspection visit to the 20,000 TEUs container capacity facility designed to scale up to 50,000 TEUs in three years and 80,000 TEUs in five years.
He said: “I am impressed with the pace and progress of construction work on this project which is 80 percent completed. We have a coordinating team set up by Shippers Council that reports progress on weekly basis.
“As at the last report, the level of completion of the dry port is 80 percent. The final assessment of the project would be done at the end of the month when we will come with the minister as a team.”
The Chairman of Dala ICD, Abubakar Bawuro, said everything had been put in place to facilitate speedy completion, viability and use of the dry port adding that it would trigger economic development in Kano as well as neighbouring states.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of the ICD, Ahmed Rabiu, said, “We assure you that on March 31, this place would be ready and will just wait for the Minister to do the last bit of declaring it as a port of origin and destination.”
It would be recalled that the Acting DG of Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Michael Ohiani had earlier said that the Inland Container Depot (ICDs) in Dala, Kano State, and Funtua, Katsina State will commence operations before May this year.
According to him, the decision for the two ICDs to commence operations this year was reached at a meeting before the ICRC, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), and the concessionaires.
Meanwhile, a huge facilitator of the Dala inland dry port is the Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, who has not only interfaced with the Nigerian Shippers’ Council and other key stakeholders but has committed N2.4 billion, aside 200 hectares of virgin land to the project.
