Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi has apologised to Nigerians for the breakdown on the Abuja-Kaduna rail locomotives, which occurred between November 18 and 20.
The minister made the plea on Monday at the Moniya rail station during the routine inspection of the ongoing rail project in Ibadan.
“I want to apologise to Nigerians for what happened at the Abuja-Kaduna rail station.
“We now have new locomotives and we have called the Chinese because we never expected the mechanical fault at this early stage.
“On behalf of the Federal Government, the ministry, and the Nigerian Railway Corporation, we apologise to Nigerians and I have instructed the NRC to fix it or invite the Chinese.
“If this is happening now, then they should bring back our old locomotives, it will just affect turnaround times because we get the new locomotive to increase the turnaround time,” he said.
Amaeachi called for an increase in the pace of work by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, adding that the COVID-19 pandemic was no longer an excuse.
The minister said although the CCECC was doing well, it needs to increase its pace to enable the ministry to deliver the project on schedule.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Mrs Madeleine Ajani, said there was significant improvement in the ongoing work from what it was in October.
Ajani said the ministry was not shifting their date of the commissioning but would rather put more pressure on the CCECC to enable them to achieve their targets.
The Managing Director, Nigeria Railway Corporation, Mr Fidet Okhiria, said there was an improvement in the construction output by the contractors, adding ”hopefully by December some of the stations would be completed’’.
NAN
