The Dala Inland Dry Port, Kano has attained 65 per cent completion stage and with the speed of work at the site, the project is likely to be commissioned for operations before December, 2021.
Confirming this to MMS Plus in a chat in Lagos, the promoter and Chairman of Dala Inland Dry Port Limited, Alhaji Rabiu Ahmed said, “Dala Inland Dry Port has approached appreciable average of 65 per cent completion of the critical infrastructure and provision of the essential professional staff.
“In addition to the physical development, it is also advanced in the provision of equipment which we are hopeful will be moved to the site and concluded soon. We are hoping that by next week(third week of June) there will be equipment at the site and there is also a temporary office which has been done in accordance with the practice in most terminals. On the whole, we are moving conveniently to the commencement of operation in the next two months.” He asserted.
Grateful to the Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje for his unrivaled support, he reiterated the state government’s support for the project with US$6million(N2.3bn) with which the basic infrastructural facilities such as perimeter fencing, water, access roads, energy, among others, were provided at the site.
In his description of the depth of the state government support, he said, “The government support is uniquely superb. I have not seen the support for a green project at the scale of passion and commitment that His Excellency Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje has accorded Dala Inland Port project. He, in addition to making sure that critical infrastructure are provided in the facility from a dual carriage standard access road to fencing the place, provision of water, provision of power, among others.
“He also said that he is committed to providing office of any standard and anything that is needed to be done towards the completion of the project. One of them was the visit he made to the Nigerian Shippers’ Council(NSC) and the visit we had with our potential partners, Sifax Group and another in Abuja. Quite a number of times, anything that we need to get from the Federal Government he has shown commitment and has taken appropriate steps to ensure that we get them, he stated.
On the viability of the project with rail connectivity guarantee, Ahmed assured that “ Dala Inland port is now properly linked to the rail line and it is contiguous to the narrow gauge and also contiguous to the standard gauge.”
The project has since gotten technical partners, a development that has fasten the pace of work at the port located at Zawachiki in Kumbotso Local Government Area(LGA) of Kano State.
Upon completion, the port is expected to accommodate up to the equivalent of 20,020ft units of capacity, which is expected to be increased to 50,000 ft equivalent unit in three years’ time thereafter.
As expected, the Dala Inland Dry Port will serve the Kano State people and other states in the Northern parts of Nigeria. The port is expected to boost regional trade with other West African countries including the Republic of Niger and Chad as well as the northern part of Cameroon.
The port is taking advantage of the rail infrastructure of the country, especially the rail from Kano to Jibia in Katsina, as well as the rail from Lagos to Kano State, which will serve as the pedestal for the success of the operations of the Dry inland port.
Licensed since 2006 as Public Private Partnership(PPP) project, it is situated on a 200 hectres of land with the potentials to provide over 20,000 job opportunities.
