TheCable

Olugbenga Dairo, the commissioner for transportation in Ogun, says the proposed Kajola dry port will create at least 40,000 jobs for both skilled and unskilled workers in the state.

Dairo who spoke on Thursday told journalists in Abeokuta, the state capital, that the federal government recently approved the project.

According to Dairo, the dry port, located at Kajola, Papalanto in Ewekoro LGA of the state, is in line with the Ogun multimodal transportation master plan.

Dairo said with the port, the Dapo Abiodun-led administration is determined to make Ogun the country’s first investment and business destination.

The commissioner assured all stakeholders that their interests had been captured in the project.

He added that the construction of the dry port would expand the internally generated revenue for the state, reduce transport and transaction costs, and attract various infrastructure and regional development projects.

“In 2021, His Excellency, Governor Dapo Abiodun directed us to put together a strategic Multimodal Transportation Master Plan for Ogun State,” Dairo said.

“This, we did in conjunction with experts from the prestigious Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) and support from the United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (UKFCDO).

“We were very mindful of the aspirations of His Excellency on the economic and industrial development for the state, and so we deemed it critical to plan for an airport and a dry port.

“The airport is nearing completion, and our congruent plan is to develop a dry port that will receive goods from Apapa and Tincan dry ports.

“The good news is that we have got the Federal Government approval to develop, and we are not resting our oars on other processes towards this realization.

“The proposed site has been satisfactorily assessed to be proximate to both the NRC narrow and standard gauge rail lines. It is a flat land good for a dry port, and there are Lafarge and Dangote cement factories within its catchment area.”

Earlier in May, Dairo had said that a multi-land use dry port city would also be developed around the site of the proposed port to decongest the busy Apapa seaport.