LEKKI PORT N700M PROJECT TO ATTRACT FOUR MILLION CARGOES ANNUALLY BY 2020

Lekki Port N700 million port development projects at Lagos Free Trade Zone (LFTZ) is expected to handle over four cargo throughput by the year 2020.
The Port which is being developed by the Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprises, when completed will facilitate foreign and local investments and trigger industrial development in the country.
Speaking with newsmen in Lagos over the weekend, the project director of Lekki Port, Peter Banham, said the port when completed, would attract vessels of 8,000 Twenty Equivalent Unit (TEUs) of containers and tanker vessels of 160,000 Deadweight (Dwt). He explained that the port due to its capacity would be operated with 28 RTG cranes, stressing that each of the machines has the capacity of carrying over 10 containers at a time.
''Lekki Port will also acquire 70 cranes which will create employment for 210 Nigerians crane drivers'', Banham stated.
The LFTZ which is harbouring Lekki Port, started its developmental project four years ago, and has developed two state-of-the-art warehouses that are presently the biggest in West Africa. ]
The port located at Itoke Village, Ibeju-Lekki, has a natural site for deep water in all Nigeria's coastal line and will provide swift access of imports and exports because of its nearness to the main shipping routes across the Atlantic Ocean.
The project director pointed out that the port with its natural draught of 16-17 metres deep would handle 1.2 million TEUs of container yearly and would help to eliminated congestion at the Lagos ports.
''Phase one when completed will handle between 1.2/1.4 million TEUs of containers and approximately 3,000,000 tons of break-bulk cargo. Phase two, when we acquire more land could handle over 2m TEUs, 3,000,000 tons of bulk and up to one million tons of liquid cargoes'', Banham stated.
He further explained that with his 40 years experience on the job and his excellent understanding of the international port system, he was in Nigeria to build a world class port as he had done in Egypt and other European countries.
The port has already thrown open its bid to interested companies to apply for construction and dredging of the channels. Those who won the bid thereafter will be contacted, while the contracts will be awarded after that. The contractors are expected to start work at the site as at press time.

-By Melody Nwobia

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