From Musa Muhammad Kutama, Calabar
To modernize and cushion transportation to its citizens and lead to the Northern part of the state with all transportation, the Cross River state governor, Senator Bassey Otu, has performed the groundbreaking ceremony for a 365-kilometre railway to connect the southern part of the state with the north.
The project our reporter was told authoritatively by the chief press secretary to the governor, Nsa Gill, in a statement is a Public-Private Partnership funded initiative driven by Messers Reinhoke LLC in partnership with the state government”.
Performing the groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday at the premises of the Tinapa Free Zone Resort, the Governor stated that the railway project is one of the fruits of the Investment Summit held in August 2023, at the Calabar International Convention Centre, where the state government had a robust engagement with financial, infrastructure and social investment players, seeking buy-in in the growth trajectory of Cross River’s economy.
Governor Otu further said, ““Today, therefore, marks an important milestone in our quest to expand and diversify the stock of our infrastructure by partnering with Messers Reinhoke LLC for the construction of the Grandlito Railway Project that will run from Calabar to Obudu. On completion, the project will cover an approximate distance of 365km with main terminals in Calabar and Obudu; while three sub-stations will be located at Ugep, Ikom and Ogoja,” Otu informed.
The governor disclosed that $350m (Three Hundred and Fifty Million Dollars) is estimated as a conservative cost for the project, adding that the public-private partnership in the provision of the infrastructure is based on funds from equity investments and debt financing from financial institutions with significant backing from Cross River state government.
The governor added that the importance of the rail project to the economic growth of the state is promised on the strategic location of the state among other sub-nationals.
“Cross River is frontier to Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Sao Tome and Principe. It is also home to the largest export processing zone in Nigeria – the Calabar Free Trade Zone (CFTZ).
“The railway line will not only facilitate the easy intra-state movement but will serve as an evacuation corridor for goods and services within international borders,” he added.
He expressed optimism that the expected boost in international trade and its ripple effect will drill down the entrepreneurial spirit of Cross Riverians and trigger the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The governor enjoined the company handling the railway project, Reinhooke Investment LLC, to attach the desired seriousness to meet the stipulated timeline for completion.
Otu also charged communities whose areas the rail project will cut through to give maximum cooperation to the construction company, directing indigenes of such communities to, in line with local content, apply for sub-jobs from the firm based on their capacities and set skills.
He reassured Cross Riverians that his administration remains poised to change the infrastructural landscape of the state through enduring partnerships.
In his remarks, Stanley Orji of Rinehooke Investments LLC aids the project will attract investments, stimulate job creation and encourage the establishment of new businesses such as Hi-tech, tourism, manufacturing, and agriculture, as well as bolster the ease of doing business in the state, making Cross River an attractive destination for both local and international investors, while assuring of his company’s commitment to contractual obligations and project execution within the agreed timeframe.
