By Moses Uwagbale
The management of Atlantique Marine and Engineering Services Ltd (AMES), promoters of the AMES-Edo Inland Dry Port has said that no fewer than 300 Local Government Areas would benefit from the Port when it becomes operational.
Dr Charles Akhigbe, Managing Director, and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AMES-Edo said when he received a senior management team from the Federal Ministry of Transportation, at the project site in Benin.
Akhigbe said that the port would also drive socio-economic conditions of people living within the state.
He commended the Federal Government and called for more support in ensuring the project comes to reality.
“The aim of this project is to add value to the economy. And more than 300 Local Government Areas will be greatly impacted. We are closer to the end of the tunnel than when we started.”
In her remarks, Mrs Magdalene Ajani, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, commended the management of the dry port for the project.
Ajani however noted that there was still lot of work to be done.
“The gap analysis that has been done by the consultant has been delivered to them and we have advised them to work on those identified gaps.
“By the time those things are on ground, then we shall be returning to confirm the status.
“The project delivery team comprising members of the ministry of transportation, the AMES group, and stakeholders in Edo will work together to put in place some technical things,” she said.
He had also said that the dry was a first in the South South geo-political region and would serve the South South and South East geo political space.
According to him, the about N7 billion dry port would also serve parts of the North Central.
He had further disclosed that the dry port would provide over 5,000 jobs and create more job opportunities for Nigerians in companies providing ancillary services at the dry port.
