The Senator-elect for Niger South senatorial district, Alhaji Muhammad Bima Enagi, has appealed to the federal government to expedite action on the completion of the road from Agaie town to Baro Inland Port.
Speaking with Daily Trust on Sunday in Minna, the Senator-elect hailed the federal government for the completion and commissioning of the Inland Port but said the project can only serve its purpose if the access road is completed.
Daily Trust recalls that the contract for the road was awarded in 2009 but was revoked in 2012.
The federal government points at the failure of the contractor for delivering the job on time as the main motivation for its revocation then.
It re-awarded the contract for the construction of the 28.7km road to an Indian firm for the sum of N17.5 billion and a 12-month completion period.
The then minister of works, Arch. Mike Onolememen, said during the flag-off of the road in March 2015 that the federal government was determined to open up the economy of the north through Baro Port but non release of funds had affect the progress of work.
Daily Trust observed that the road which commenced from a point in Agaie town was yet to reach Katcha town, headquarters of Katcha local government area before the commissioning of the port last January.
Bima pointed out that Baro used to be boisterous in the past, when ships and goods will be transported hinterland, adding that the port used to transport groundnuts, cotton and other produce from the North.
He said the port became a relic of its past glory with the infrastructure that heralded that era left to deteriorate.
He commended the vision of the federal government in reviving the port but urged the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to urgently complete the access road so that the potential of the project can be fully tapped.