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LequteMan
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Abia North's senator Enyinnaya Abaribe has condemned the outright ommission of the south-east from major rail projects by Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi.
The Chairman of the South-East Caucus in the Senate had raised the matter at plenary recently, saying the South-East, South-South 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.
Amaechi, in a statement by his ministry had denied that the South-East was excluded from the rail projects. According to him, Onitsha and Aba were covered in the project.
Reacting, 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.
“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).”
He said the south-east cannot wait for the next phase of the project.
“If it is our collective money saved out of our earnings, we can wait for the next season. But since it is a collective debt, why don’t we endeavour to borrow enough and stimulate the growth of every region at the same period?” he queried.
The Chairman of the South-East Caucus in the Senate had raised the matter at plenary recently, saying the South-East, South-South 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.
Amaechi, in a statement by his ministry had denied that the South-East was excluded from the rail projects. According to him, Onitsha and Aba were covered in the project.
Reacting, 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.
“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).”
He said the south-east cannot wait for the next phase of the project.
“If it is our collective money saved out of our earnings, we can wait for the next season. But since it is a collective debt, why don’t we endeavour to borrow enough and stimulate the growth of every region at the same period?” he queried.
