Over 20,000 Nigerians employed for Lagos-Ibadan Rail project — Amaechi
The Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, has said
that over 20,000 workers were engaged for the ongoing construction of
Lagos-Ibadan rail project.
This, he said was in compliance with the local content law
inherent in the $1.6 billion contract agreement between Nigeria and China.
Mr Amaechi said this at a public hearing in Abuja, Monday,
while responding to concerns by the House of Representatives Committee on
Treaties, Protocols and Agreements that local content was not observed in the
course of the project.
He said, “There are over 20,000 Nigerian workers employed
for the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan railway project, only 560 of the
workers on that project are Chinese,” adding that most materials for the
project were locally sourced except for those that were manufactured outside
Nigeria.
“We have over 150 Nigerians being trained as Engineers in
China. The Chinese have also built two training institutions for us, one at Idu
and the other one is the Transportation University in Daura, Katsina State,” Mr
Amaechi said.
The minister also said that only a contract of $1.6b was awarded by the present administration in the Ministry of Transportation as against the allegations by the committee chairman, Nicholas Ossai, that there was a $33 billion contract awarded by the present administration.
“Mr. Chairman, there is no $33bn contract in the Ministry of
Transportation. What we have is $1.6b awarded by this government for
Lagos-Ibadan, for which the Chinese government is providing $1.2b and we are
providing the remaining $400m.”
Mr Amaechi restated that the coastal rail project may not sail through if the House committee continues its investigations on the project before the loan is granted.
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