ICRC Issues FG OBC Certificate for Concession of $8.5m TTP in Oboloafor

Kasim Sumaina in Abuja
The federal government has received the Outline Business Case Certificate (OBC) for the concessioning of Truck Transit Park, estimated to cost $8.5million in Oboloafor, Enugu State.
The move, according to the FG, was to reduce the menace of indiscriminate parking by tanker and trailer drivers on Nigerian roads.

Receiving the OBC certificate from the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) on behalf of government, in Abuja, the Executive Secretary Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Hassan Bello, explained that the OBC signified transparent advertisement for the expression of interest by investors. He stated that the bid process was expected to be completed within a period of two months, after which the preferred bidder would be selected.

According to him, “the initial cost of the TTP in Oboloafor is $8.5million and it will create about 3,154 jobs, disclosing that the Enugu State government had 16.1hectares of land for the establishment of the TTP.
He said the TTP was processed through the Economic, Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) focus labs, pointing out that of the 160 provide projects processed through the lab, the TTP accounted for 7 and the project was rated 4-star on the scale of 1-5.

Bello said that there has been a lot of response and it was becoming a constituency project.
“The establishment of the TTP must be an economic decision that would be led by the private sector while the federal government provides the enabling environment, adding that they had collaborated with stakeholder’s like NURTW, RETEA, NARTO, NUPENG, such that they would own the project”, he stressed.

Bello disclosed that the TTP would be intermodal, integrated and modern, adding that and would be constructed in such a way that it would be inter connected with the train stations, Inland Container Dry Port.
“Government was yet to fix the time frame for the concession period, but the period would be reasonable such that it would give comfort to investors so that they can recover their investment and also make profit.”

The ES further disclosed that the OBC for the Lokoja Truck Transit Park would be submitted to ICRC in the next two weeks and then look at other states that had shown interest, including Edo, Sokoto, and Kebbi state among others.
He further added: “The TTP would be electronically driven and there would be side attraction, as companies would come in to provide recreation services, banks, and maintenance services among others.”

The acting Director General ICRC Chidi Izuwah, in his remarks, hinted that more than 90 percent of road crashes in Nigeria were by trucks, even as he noted that transportation was key to the economic performance.

He lamented that Nigeria did not have any truck park facility, which had resulted in huge menace on the federal roads, adding that the federal roads were the nation’s economic arteries and anyone or thing blocking these arteries were blocking circulation of economic activities with severe problem on the economy.

Izuwah, however, suggested that “the modern Truck Transit Park should have a Truck Parking Bay, weigh bridges, hotels, restaurants, gas station, kiosk, mechanic spares, mini fire station, sick bay, security, and cargo tracking facilities.”