The Minister for Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has pushed for an early completion date for the Lekki Deep Seaport project as he urged the contractors to speed up work to enable government approve all necessary processes before the next general election.
The minister acknowledged that the Lekki Deep Seaport project, which is designed to be the deepest seaport in West Africa, is about 80% complete and has before the end of this year as the target for completion of construction.
This was made known by Amaechi, while on an inspection tour of the ongoing Lekki Deep Seaport project in Lagos on Saturday, January 22, 2021. Amaechi said that when operational the Lekki Deep Seaport will be automated as the bulk of the documentation would be efficiently done online.
What the Minister of Transportation is saying
Amaechi in a tweet post on his official Twitter handle said, “I was at Lekki deep seaport this morning. The port construction is about 80% completed. The last time I visited, the Quay wall was not visible, just the breakwaters. But today the top level of the Quay wall is almost ready.
“Our target is to complete construction before the end of the year. When operational, the Lekki deep seaport will be automated. The bulk of the documentation would be efficiently done online.’’
What you should know
- The Lekki Deep Seaport, designed to be a significant game-changer in Nigeria’s maritime economy and constructed by China Habour Engineering firm, is a $2 billion investment in the Lagos Free Trade zone initiated by Tolaram Group, a Singaporean company.
- When completed, the deep seaport is expected to generate more than 170,000 direct and indirect job opportunities for Lagos residents and would boost the Federal Government’s efforts to decongest the Lagos ports in Apapa and Tin Can.
- The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, had in March 2021, said that the Lekki Deep Seaport is expected to begin operations by the first quarter of 2023, as the construction firm, China Habour Engineering firm had made tremendous improvement with the project