By Adedapo Adesanya
The Sifax Group plans to construct a $20 million Truck Park at the Lekki Port corridor to ease and manage truck movement within and around the port axis.
The Lekki Port is a public-private partnership infrastructure development in Nigeria which is expected to contribute over $361 billion in economic impact in the next 40 years.
Already, Sifax has acquired a portion of land for about $11 million that can accommodate 1,000 trucks at any point in time as sand filling of the waterlogged area has almost been completed.
Sifax is reportedly working in partnership with the Lekki Free Zone Development Company for that purpose which is evident with the structure already coming together. The sand filling is almost completed and the entire expanse of land has been fenced awaiting other civil and engineering works.
Speaking on the development, the Deputy Managing Director of the Lekki Free Zone Development Company, Mrs Bolatito Ajibode, said that the engagement with the leadership of Sifax has reached an advanced state.
She added that construction works on the truck park have commenced.
Mrs Ajibode also said the project would occur in two phases, adding that the availability of land in that axis has become an issue noting the only available land inside the Free Trade Zone that has over 3,000 hectares of land depending on the type of businesses including truck parks.
“We are partnering with Sifax and Sifax will manage our truck park. Phase one of that truck park will take 500 trucks while phase two will take another 500 trucks. So, with a 1,000-truck capacity and efficiency, we are confident that we will not have a repeat of what is presently obtained in Apapa.
“When we started engaging Sifax, the first we did was to clear the land, we have cleared the land, we have reclaimed the land by sand-filling it. So, the land is ready, and they have done their registration, so all is set and we have done the fence.
“If you go from Ibeju to Epe, it will be difficult for you to get hectares of land in one location and that is why Sifax has to come into Lekki Free Zone. We have 3000 hectares of land.
“The only reason in my view why I think these proposed truck park owners have failed is because they cannot get that large space of land outside of the Lekki Free Zone. I think that is the major reason, it is not that they do not want to. They do not have the land that is the truth.
“What we have here will probably be the main point of call the trucks coming into this axis. The Sifax truck park is going to be the biggest,” she said.
