Lekki seaport, international airport on course -Fashola






 Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola says the construction of Lekki Seaport has begun while the design for the international airport is ready. The governor said this on Thursday during the second Lagos Corporate Assembly, tagged, 'BRF Meets Business', held at Lekki Free Trade Zone complex. Fashola, however, said paucity of fund was a major challenge to the speedy development of the seaport and the international airport, adding that availability of funds would determine when the project would be completed. He said, "I cannot tell you the date the seaport will be finished but work has started at the port and the contractors are on site. "There are still a few issues in terms of getting funding and commitment from the private sector because clearly both the management and the private sector own the zone. They are not government-owned but government has an enabling role to play in the regulation of the zone." He said the state government was sourcing private funds to develop the international airport. He noted that the airport would be of international standard, according to an approve plan. He said the state was strategically positioned to utilise and benefit from the development of the airport. The governor assured businesses and corporate entities that government remained truly committed to providing infrastructure needed to make the free trade zone functional as soon as possible. He said the zone would drive not just the state economy, but the national economy. Fashola also faulted the plan by the Federal Government to sell the National Theatre, stating that it was like wiping the country's national history. He also said the transport plan for the trade zone was basically water-driven. Fashola said, "The zone is a peninsula. That is why we are considering the need to transport our goods on the water. This is peninsula that sits so strategically that it has access to its own means of transport which is water.  "That was why we have decided to fast-track the plan of accessing the zone and evacuation of cargo by using the lagoon. "This lagoon goes as far as Ondo State. Most logs come into the state through water. I do not know any country where industrial cargo is transported by road." He said such a development was not sustainable, stressing that the roads would not last. Fashola said the waterways would be the government's immediate and short-term focus. "And before the end of the year, we would ensure the possibility of water transport in the zone," he said. Punch