BUSINESS Jos Dry Port: Panacea to N/ Central, N/East cargo difficulties
Following the commissioning of the Inland Container Deport in Kaduna, otherwise known as the Kaduna Dry Port, in January this year by President Muhammadu Buhari, all attention is focused on the Jos Dry Port as the next in line likely to be commissioned by the President. Hence, work has been intensified to bring it up to its expected level.
For a few years now, the Jos Inland Dry Port has been under construction and has attained several levels of completion. It is part of the six Inland Container Deports (ICD) concession by the federal government in 2006, upon which Duncan Maritime Ventures Limited bided for and won, under the Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) public private partnership model. It was then designated as a port of origin and destination in 2017 by the government through the Nigeria Shippers Council with a new MoU signed to that effect.
The construction of the dry port has from time to time been met with several uphill challenges, including its demolition by the last administration in the state for unclear reasons. The demolition of the structures by the Plateau State Government in 2014 almost created a kind of setback for the dry port. It was gathered that the Group Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of Duncan Group of Companies, Dr Godfrey Bawa Chitgurum, said that despite the Federal High Court Jos injunction restraining Governor Jonah Jang and the Jos Metropolitan Development Board, the government still demolished structures at the site.
Chitgurum had said that the state government, which had earlier supported the project, turned around to reject it, adding that among items destroyed were the gate of the complex, which was 86 per cent completed, and the administrative block, over 26,000 blocks, timber and several other items. But the dry port received since last year has received a tangible boost to intensify the project after the demolishing setback. This boost came from many quarters, particularly through the Transport minister, Rotimi Amechi.
When completed, the dry port will play a supportive role and serve as a logistics center, which provides services such as handling, storage, stuffing/ un-stuffing, consolidation, custom clearance, freight forwarding and container maintenance, banking and insurance. By performing these functions, the dry port will provide import and export solutions to shippers/businesses in the hinterland.
Located on a 34-hectare land at Heipang in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State, the dry port is expected to service eight states around the NorthCentral and North-East zones namely: Plateau, Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba, Nassarawa, Benue, Kaduna and the Federal Capital Territory.
The Jos Dry Port shares the same boundary with the Jos International Cargo Airport, and it is linked by a double carriage access road to the main road which connects Jos, the Plateau State capital and other states within the region. Surely, its prime location and accessibility provides a strong rationale for its projected commercial viability.
With three phases construction plan of 5000, 10000 and 20000 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs), the dry port is said to consist of railway links and other access roads, stacking area, warehouses, container yard and container freight station. Others are the truck marshaling area, container repair center, facility secure fence, commercial area and administrative offices with space for banks, forwarders and cargo agents, customs office and other relevant agencies.
Speaking with our correspondent on the services to be rendered by the dry port, the manager, Nenfort Clifford Gonchen, said the port will provide container handling and storage services for both import and export, and will receive containers by rail through Lagos and Port Harcourt sea ports, adding that there would be examination and clearance by customs and other competent authorities at dry port.
“The specific objectives of the Jos Dry Port is to boost import by bringing shipping services to the doorsteps of end users in the hinterland and to impact significantly on the industrialization process by providing essential transport facility for import and export. The port will also cut down on the overall time, cost and risk of moving cargos to hinterland locations, and it will assist in decongesting the sea ports by cutting down on turnaround time for ship and due time for cargos. Moreover, the port will provide the impetus for the revival and modernization of the railways as a primary mode for long distance haulage,” he said.
The manager stressed that having been approved to service the North Central and parts of North Eastern states based on the feasibility study funded by the federal government in 2002, the Group Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of Duncan Group of Companies, Dr Godfrey Bawa Chitgurum, queued in and has been desirous of boosting businesses in the northern landscape through it.
He added that with its nearness to the airport and a federal dual carriage road, the Jos Dry Port is a perfect logistic hub and the most strategically located in the country with such multimodal proximity.
In his own remarks, the Executive Director of Duncan Group of Companies, Bawa Larry Peters, disclosed that the Jos inland container deport will cost the sum of N9.5 Billion and that work at the site has reached 70 percent completion.
The Director appealed to Northern business men to avail themselves of the many opportunities of the dry port, saying that when completed, it will create over 5000 jobs. The host communities will benefit tremendously and the state government will generate huge revenue as a result of activities within the terminal.
Conducting our correspondent and other newsmen round the facility recently, during an inspection visit, Peters commended the Minister of Transport Rotimi Ameachi for being in the forefront of pushing for its speedy completion, adding that President Buhari mentioned in Kaduna that soon another dry port will be commissioned and they are hoping it will be that of Jos.
The Director called on the Federal and Plateau State government to ensure the construction of railway, more access roads and the electricity that will link the container depot, pointing out that already offices for banks, clearing agents, fire service bay, and port police post are almost completed.
He expressed optimism that the speed of work on the project will ensure its timely completion, and thereafter, the dry port will begin to drive economic activities of the region, just like Lagos where they have a seaport that impacts the city’s economy.
“We are thinking about bulk export and import. On export, for example, we will like to see optimal utilization of agricultural resources. This is a huge
The construction of the dry port has from time to time been met with several uphill challenges, including its demolition by the last administration in the state for unclear reasons
agricultural location and there are lots of demands for agricultural goods. So, we are expecting many industries to spring up, to process the goods and export them through this port. By and large, this project is very good for the whole country.
“This is what we should have in our economy, so that trade and commercial activities will boom. Again, this will encourage young people to be entrepreneurs or industrialists, because you can stay in Jos and order for your goods from abroad, and the freight forwarders and shippers will put your container on a train and bring it straight to you,” he added.