Bello said the Council was championing the development of TTPs across the country because trucks currently litter major highways in the country
Uche Usim, Abuja
Hopes of establishing a Truck Transit Park (TTP) in Obelle-Afor, Enugu State, brightened yesterday as the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), received the project’s Outline Business Case (OBC) compliance certificate from the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) in Abuja.
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Speaking at a brief ceremony at the ICRC headquarters, the Executive Secretary of NSC, Hassan Bello, said the time has come for the country to see infrastructure deficit not as a challenge but as an opportunity to grow exponentially. He said the Council was championing the development of TTPs across the country because trucks currently litter major highways in the country, wreaking havoc and hampering free movement of good and persons.
He said Obelle Affor TTP is an $8.5 million investment rated four star and sitting on 16.1 hectares of land allocated by the Enugu State government.
He said: “We’ve had stakeholder’ engagements with NATO, AMATO, RTEAN, NURTW, among others. We want them to be fully part of it. We’ve signed an MoU with FRSC to ensure drivers use these facilities.
In Germany, drivers and trucks are monitored to ensure they observe the mandatory rest.
We need to all come together as agencies to straighten out all legal issues and other requirements,” he said.
Bello added that the NSC will work hard to sustain and cement the partnership it has with ICRC, towards aggressively tackling infrastructural challenge in Nigeria.
According to him, the NSC remains determined to improve transport infrastructure because the sector remains the main driver of the economy.
He said: “Unless we address the transport sector infrastructure deficit, we won’t move. Once we get the rail right, it’ll be a game changer. So also is the road, sea and air. We are talking about intermodal transport system. It’ll bring about national integration and economic growth.
We must also push for other infrastructure like the TTPs, Inland Container Depots and all that. TTPs will change the face of haulage transport.
