Lekki deep seaport construction to start in July

The Managing Director, Lekki Free Zone Development Company, Mr. Ding Yonghuaa, has announced that construction work on the port will begin next month.

Yonghuaa stated this on Tuesday while receiving investors and members of the diplomatic community who visited the free trade zone to assess the work done so far and the investment opportunities there.

The July date is three months behind the scheduled time set by the Lagos State Governor, Mr. AkinwunmiAmbode, who had said the construction of the seaport would commence in April.

The announcement by Yonghuaa also sought to address concerns about the take-off of the project, adding that work on the port would take one year to complete.

He added that there were logistics companies that were already working on the project.

He  described the FTZ as a  one-stop centre for all services, including local and offshore banking, an international airport, customs processing centre and the Nigeria Export Processing Zone Authority, among other government agencies.

On transportation, Yonghuaa said in future, there would be four access roads linking the zone in addition to a railway.

According to him, there will be a road connecting the Lekki-Epe Expressway to the seaport and a company has already agreed to build the road on a public-private partnership arrangement.

He informed the investors that payment for the land would be in dollars and the tenor could range from five to 50 years.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Prince RotimiOgunleye, noted that the essence of the meeting was for the world to see the FTZ and know that it was open to all companies all over the world to set up businesses.

He said the area had been structured to ensure hitch-free operations with 24 hour power supply, good road network and security.