By NKIRUKA NNOROM

Against the speculation that construction of Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise is being delayed by paucity of funds, the Project Manager, Mr. Tejaswi A. Vanamali, has assured that they are on track to meet the Q3 2016 operational take-off date, and are set to complete the financial obligation by third quarter of the year.

Conducting journalists round the 90 hectares of land facility on Thursday, Vanamali said that both Tolaram, which is the lead sponsor of the project and the Lagos State Government, which is also a shareholder, have made their own part of financial commitment, while US$117 million expected from the federal government would be made available before the end of this week.

So far, he said that US$ 800million has been committed to the project,  while 33 out of 36 project permits have already been secured.

“Our commitment to ensuring that we meet the scheduled operational date has seen us spare nothing in achieving it. As at today, we are happy to confidently say that all market engineering and impact studies have been completed over the last six years; likewise the Lekki port site has been gazetted as port area by the federal government. It is important to note that the Environmental Import Assessment study (EIA) has been fully completed with IFC/World Bank guidelines.

“Container terminal sub-concession has been awarded to International Common User Terminal Operator, ICTSI, focusing on emerging markets after a tedious competitive bidding. Also shareholders agreement has been signed between the sponsors, NPA and the Lagos State Government.   We are very much on course and in no distant time, Nigerians, the entire West African region would witness a revolution never seen before in the maritime sector, Vanamali said.”

Also speaking at the event, the Managing Director, Mr. Haresh Aswani, emphasised that the deep-sea port, which would be located 65 km east of Lagos Mainland would become the gateway to West African region and would be one of the most efficient and modern maritime facilities that would cater to containerised liquid and dry bulk cargo par international standards.