NAN-H-63
NRC
By Kazeem Akande,
Lagos, Dec.13, 2016 (NAN) The Senate Committee on Land Transport on Tuesday said the National Assembly was determined to address the current challenges facing the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC).
The Committee Chairman, Sen. Gbenga Ashafa, disclosed this during an oversight visit to the NRC Ebute-Meta Headquarters in Lagos.
Ashafa said a joint committee, comprising senators and their House of Representatives counterparts, had been constituted.
According to him, the joint committee is aware of the corporation’s numerous challenges and is determined to take necessary legislative actions to address them.
“The committee is aware of the NRC’s numerous challenges; the House will take necessary actions to address those that require our intervention.
“We embarked on this oversight visit to review management of the corporation’s finances in the current budget cycle.
“We need to know the augmentations to be made in the 2017 budget cycle,’’ the lawmaker said.
He said the National Assembly had observed from the last budget cycle that the main ministry had been implementing most of the projects that should have been carried out by the corporation.
Ashafa said that the committee was well-disposed to considering all options to ensure the NRC was well funded.
He said that the committee had noted that there had been no capital release to the NRC, according to the corporation’s submission.
Earlier, the NRC’s Managing Director, Mr Fidet Okhiria, told the committee that the corporation had yet to receive over N330 million earmarked for its capital projects in the 2016 budget.
Okhiria said that the NRC was facing serious challenges that include lack of finance, obsolete machineries and workshop equipment.
“ Critical infrastructure has to be put in place to avoid falling back to the dark days of the corporation that brought about stoppage of train services through zero budgeting for the corporation.
“I want to appeal to the distinguished Senators and members of the House of Representatives to come to our assistance as the railway is critical to economic development.
“It has the capacity to bring down cost of production if sustained.
“We believe you have the capacity to ensure not only robust yearly allocation, but also prompt budgetary releases to accomplish set goals,” the managing director said.
He said that if the NRC was well-funded, it would support the country’s economic development, and ensure safe, efficient and cost effective transport services.
The managing director said that the NRC could make rail transport the backbone of land transportation in Nigeria. (NAN)
AKA/ANU/COF/SOA
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Edited by Oluyinka Fadare/Oluwole Sogunle