China to help build Nigeria's first standard railway
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-09-26 09:43
China is to build the 1,400-km-long Lagos-Kano Railway, the first standard
railway in Nigeria, a spokesman for the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC)
said in Lagos on Monday.
The construction of the double-track
line would involve a total investment of 8.3 billion U.S. dollars, NRC Spokesman
David Ndakotsu told reporters in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos.
To
pave way for the new line, he said, "the NRC management has set up monitoring
units in its seven districts to identify and demolish structures in areas
proposed for the new standard rail."
Ndakotsu said masts erected by
public utility companies and private organizations on the corridors of the
proposed standard gauge would be demolished.
He added that such
organizations had been served a month's notice to relocate such facilities.
"The NRC is hopeful that companies such as the Power Holding Company of
Nigeria, the Nigerian Telecommunication Corporation ( NITEL) and private
telephone operators who have erected masts, cables and pylons on the rail lines
will comply with the directive, " he said.
Ndakotsu expressed
satisfaction with the level of support the corporation had received from the
governments of Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Kaduna and Kano states on the Lagos-Kano
railway project that will traverse these states.
The spokesman said
these states had initiated moves to reclaim for the NRC its abused properties
and also set up task forces to dislodge illegal structures and trespassers
within the proposed rail corridors. (For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
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