THE ATIKU ABUBAKAR POLICY DOCUMENTS (The Atiku Formula). MAKING GOOD THINGS HAPPEN Continued! 6.2 TRANSPORTATION 6.3 The Issues • The Nigerian transport system is primarily unimodal – over 90% of freight and passengers move by road. The system lacks intermodal connectors • Unimodalism has been encouraged by a lack of regulation (lack of axle load controls and low market entry barriers favour road transport and further distort the market). The net result is a system with low efficiency, and high transport and maintenance costs; • Lack of intermodal coordination has led to o (a) fragmented planning as e.g. exemplified by the non-prioritisation of the Jebba - Kaduna road despite the fact that it is critical from a road user’s perspective, o (b) sub-optimal resource allocation e.g., the Inland Container Depot (ICD) project has not prioritised the need to decongest Lagos, and o (c) port concessioning without factoring in the efforts to revitalise rail and hinterland connections; • Road transport will still remain the principal transport mode for the foreseeable future, and therefore requires attention while creating a level playing field with other forms of transport; • Lagos, with its limited transport infrastructure, is the primary gateway for foreign trade and therefore dominates national transportation activity thus resulting in significant transport congestion; The bulk of the transport distortions start and have their resolution in Lagos; • Limited rail connectivity forces goods onto road transport (up to 300 trucks are needed daily to carry containers through the Lagos metropolitan area; very slow transit times – 5 – 25km per hour through Lagos; Long port stays – 8 to 11 days compared to 2 day averages elsewhere in West Africa; • Additional sea freight congestion charges due to delays in Lagos could add N29.9 billion ($230 million) per annum to transport costs in 2006 alone; • Agricultural products are dominant in some parts of the country (Middle Belt; Northern Cross River state, between Jos Plateau and Benue River; Kaduna/Kano axis), and commodity movement from surplus to demand areas (urban areas in South and Central Nigeria) is very significant for transport flows. Efficient linkages between agricultural production and consumption zones are therefore urgently required; • Bulk of the transport activity is along three corridors, and traffic volumes are expected to double within the next 20 years: o Lagos to Kano (Western Corridor) o Port Harcourt to Kaduna (Eastern corridor) o Lagos to Cross River (West – East Corridor) • Fragmentation in policy making and regulatory responsibilities with four different ministries involved in aspects of transportation (Ministries of Transport; Aviation; Works; and Agriculture and Rural Development), and policy confusion and jurisdictional overlap between the ministries and their respective agencies. Resolution of the transportation problems requires undertaking a combination of general and specific initiatives. 6.4 The Initiatives 6.5 (a) General Initiatives Short-Term Introduce a new national transport regulation system to ensure balanced regulation and that users pay close to the real cost of road use Develop a new National Transport Policy that addresses issues relevant to promote intermodalism including institutional fragmentation, intermodal regulation, intermodal connectors and measuring transport system performance. Involve all stakeholders in developing the new policy especially state and Local Governments in respect of roads and passenger traffic, and operators, service providers and users with respect to barriers to efficiency • Achieve policy consistency and effective regulatory framework by vesting the Ministry of Transport with policy and regulatory oversight. • Develop Public Private Sector Partnerships (PPP) for the development of the transport infrastructure. Medium-Term • Enhance linkages to agricultural zones and develop agricultural collection and distribution hubs (Jebba Lafia; Makurdi; Lokoja; Pategi/Baro; Shendam; Jalingo) o Develop/rehabilitate the connecting road networks under a 3G partnership o Provide incentives to the private sector to establish commercially viable collection facilities o Provide federal support for development of infrastructure for the distribution hubs • Encourage clustering of industrial activities in zones around Enugu, Oshogbo, Onne, Benin, Suleija, Zaria, Calabar, Maiduguri, Gombe, Sokoto, Gusau and Jos o Create industrial zones under PPPs, and concession them out to private operators o FGN to assist the private sector by funding 50% of the cost of the primary infrastructure in the industrial zones o FGN shall ensure availability of power in the industrial zones • Develop inland dry ports o Define timelines for completion of concessions granted from inland/dry port development • Emphasise intermodalism – characterised by coordinated planning and building of transport infrastructure; seamless operations (road/rail/air/road); efficient infrastructural and operational linkages; and modal choice • New road developments to feed into the economic activity points, from which states can develop trunk roads to feed into the new national network. The critical links to be (re)developed include o Lagos – Ibadan o Lagos – Abuja o Lagos – Benin City via Ijebu-Ode o Asaba - Onitsha o Owerri – Port Harcourt o Jebba – Tegina – Kaduna o Abuja – Jos – Maiduguri o Abuja - Makurdi • Improve Lagos port efficiency and achieve accelerated development of Onne Port as an alternative container port • Connect ports to the national road and rail network in particular, redevelop rail links to Apapa, Tin Can and Onne • Undertake lasting reconstruction of roads • Establish regular rail freight operations and induce a modal shift from road to rail 6.6 (b) Specific Initiatives 6.6(b)(i) Railways Short-Term • Conduct a detailed feasibility study to determine whether to expand the network using the standard gauge or to remain with the narrow gauge system. Medium-Term • Nigeria uses narrow gauge tracks that can be used into the foreseeable future primarily for freight at an estimated maintenance cost of $60-80m per annum; • The standard gauge system exists around the Ajaokuta- Warri- Itakpe axis. This will be extended to Abuja so that Warri shall over the long term become the port servicing Abuja. • Develop the Lagos – Abuja rail network on the standard gauge system • Undertake a programme of rehabilitating/upgrading the existing rail network. • Expansion of the network to reflect the economic flows. • Develop railway stations to become hubs for small businesses. 6.3 (b) (ii) Rail privatisation Medium-Term • Implement a vertically integrated railway privatisation (especially for freight-based railway). • Private sector to be encouraged to buy locomotives and operate. Locomotives can be rehabilitated within the $23m estimate made by government • Identify rail operational assets and maintain them; • carve out non core assets and use them to settle pensions/other liabilities etc; • Ensure operators are allowed to operate across the privatised networks via access agreements e.g. at Kaduna junction • Industry framework – Transport ministry will be restricted to policy and budgeting matters only. o a National Railway Development Agency will take ownership of the regulatory setting, and determine public service obligations; • Rail system shall be all-inclusive – to ensure wide-spread availability of rail services in different parts of the country. o Depending on medium term viability, government shall pursue development of new rail infrastructure (rail tracks) via a mix of public and private sector funding; Masterplan to be developed whereby tracks are expanded and the states can plug in to extend services to their hinterland. Lagos-Abuja-Kano as phase I of the masterplan. Phase II to cover other parts of the country. Routes shall be concessioned to private operators post development. 6.4 Specific Initiatives – Lagos Medium-Term • Undertake operational improvements to significantly decongest Lagos o Revitalise railways to provide an alternative to trucking of cargoes to and from the port o Develop a dry port immediately north of Lagos to capture the 70% of containers destined for the Lagos region (the remaining 30% are taken care of under the existing ICD project) o Such a dry port will provide a container distribution point for cargoes destined for industrial areas north and south of the city • Develop Onne as a priority project in order to reduce pressure on Lagos, including: o completion of the Onne rail link, o establishment of the dry port at Aba with a link to the railway, and o strengthening the access road from Onne to the A3 Port Harcourt – Enugu road Enter into a 2G partnership to develop the Lagos mass transit system o FGN to acquire the land; develop infrastructure and allow operators to run services; o Lagos to identify and acquire the site; involve private sector in the project as early as possible; o Identify potential Joint Venture partners for the project and work with them; o Issue a Lagos rail bond to finance the project o Grant a concession to a private operator to develop a dedicated power plant (IPP) to service the proposed Lagos rail system 6.5 FUNDING Funding estimates for infrastructure improvements and network expansion are in the region of $1 billion per annum for the next 20 years. To be continued tomorrow - LAW & ORDER / CORRUPTION. Keep reading
Posted on: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 08:28:37 +0000