NRC to commence haulage of petroleum products, agric produce

The Nigerian Railway Corporation(NRC) is to commence haulage of petroleum products and agricultural produce across the country, the Minister of Transport, Alhaji Idris Umar, has said.The minister said this in Ilorin on Tuesday at the commencement of Ilorin-Lagos weekly passenger train service and the launch of Ewekoro-Ilorin weekly cement haulage.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the kick-off recorded the haulage of 600 metric tonnes of Lafarge cement from Ewekoro, Ogun State to Ilorin.The minister, who was represented by Alhaji Abubakar Suleiman, Director of Transport, Planning and Coordination in the ministry, said government's initiative was designed to enhance the economic development of the country.'The haulage activity of the NRC is to cover every aspect of our economy. The Lafarge/ WAPCO cement company only partnered with the corporation.'We are going to embark on the movement of petroleum products and agricultural produce among others,' he said.Mr Adeseyi Sijuade, Managing Director, NRC, disclosed that the corporation had ordered for 20 pressurised tank waggons to be used for the movement of petroleum products in the country.Sijuade also said that the corporation would soon complete the rehabilitation and provision of special waggons for the movement of agricultural produce on weekly basis in the country.He said that the NRC had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU ), with the Osun State government to move farm produce from the state to Lagos.Sijuade noted that the Ilorin-Lagos weekly passenger train launched on Friday conveyed 3,000 passengers from Lagos to Ilorin for the Eid-El-Kabir celebration.He also said that the weekly cement haulage would also help to reduce the price of the product in Ilorin and its environs.Governor Abdlfattah Ahmed of Kwara, represented by Alhaji Abubakar Kanike, Commissioner for Works and Transport, commended the initiative of the NRC.He said that the NRC was alive to its responsibility and assured it of government's support to ensure its success, noting that the haulage would complement the state's investment in air freight operation.'Kwara is the real gate- way state; a bridge between the North and the South. We are also investing in international cargo which is for air freight that will be disembarking in Ilorin.'The two will be an added value to Kwara as it will make the state a hub for economic activities in the North Central and Nigeria in general,' he added.
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