- It’s time to get the project back on track for commerce and ease of traffic on our roads
It is such a pity that the Federal Government’s newly rehabilitated rail loop linking various oil tank farms at Apapa, Lagos, have been overtaken by thick bush months after rehabilitation. The project, handled by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), has not been used since its completion in December last year, and it cost the Federal Government about N1.6billion. The tank farms, which involved laying of tracks into the farm yards, would have been used to haul petroleum products directly into the tank wagons.
Indeed, the tracks were even upgraded from 60 to 85 pounds to enable them withstand the expected increase in weight that will result from the direct haulage of petroleum products by rail. It is worthy to note that the rail tracks have been there since the colonial days. Oil Companies involved in the project included A-Z Petroleum, Oando Petroleum, Total Petroleum, Mobil, Eurafric Energy Ltd and Forte Oil.
It is indeed unfortunate that the newly rehabilitated tracks have not been used despite the huge investment in it. This was a project conceptualised to ease movement of petroleum products from oil depots, and the NRC has repeatedly boasted that it has the capacity to move 900,000 litres of petrol at an equivalent of 30 trucks at once, and dedicated two big trains that can move 1.8 million litres of petrol (PMS) to the project. Sadly, months after all the sweet talks started, movement of PMS by rail has yet to commence.
The situation is not helped by a subtle disagreement between the NRC and oil marketers who are skeptical of the arrangement since rail haulage may mean a loss of investment on their hundreds of trucks on the roads. They also fear it would further lead to job losses on the part of tanker drivers. Furthermore, it means a renegotiation of the cost of petroleum products, as lifting by rail would possibly drive down the cost of haulage and the retail price. All of these concerns can be addressed; and none is sufficient to put on hold a project on which huge public funds had been spent.
The failure of the rail line and its sorry state after N1.6bn had been invested on it is another sad commentary on the way the country has been run. All over the world, railway is seen as a very important means of transportation of goods and humans which should be given priority attention by the government. Indeed, ours is one of the few backward countries where fuel is lifted by trucks.
The advantages which are being lost by such negligence include; one, many trucks (articulated vehicles) would have been taken off our roads if the project had been operational, thereby reducing carnage and traffic logjams on the roads, both in the cities and the highways, as well as ensuring longer life span for the roads. The Buhari administration should therefore treat this rail line project as a matter of priority for its economic advantages, and ensure that it makes it come on stream without further delay.
Form the look of things, the NRC appears ready to commence operations on the tracks. The corporation said it had “gone ahead to do all the slidings for the major oil marketers and has acquired wagons which are to be used for the movement across the country”. We urge the other stakeholders to cooperate with it so that it can commence lifting of products in earnest once discussions were concluded and all safety concerns resolved.
‘The failure of the rail line and its sorry state after N1.6bn had been invested on it is another sad commentary on the way the country has been run. All over the world, railway is seen as a very important means of transportation of goods and humans which should be given priority attention by the government. Indeed, ours is one of the few backward countries where fuel is lifted by trucks’
