The Federal Government on Wednesday approved the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri Eastern Narrow Gauge. The cost of the project was put at $3.02bn.

The decision was taken at the weekly meeting of the council presided over by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).

Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, disclosed this at the end of the meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Amaechi also disclosed that the council approved the construction of a deep seaport at Bonny and a railway industrial park in Port Harcourt at a cost of $703.1m.

He however said the two projects would be at no cost to the Federal Government, saying they would be funded through Public-Private Partnership arrangement.

He said the industrial park would gulp $241.2m while the Bonny Deep Seaport would gulp $461.9m.

The minister said, “The Federal Executive Council has approved the award of contracts for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri eastern narrow guage railway, with new branch lines and trans-shipment facilities.

“The council also approved the construction of a new deep seaport in Bonny, under PPP and the construction of a railway industrial park in Port Harcourt.

“The railway line will be at a cost of $3,020,279,549. The industrial park, which is under PPP, at no cost to Federal Government, will cost $241,154,389.31. The Bonny deep seaport will cost $461,924,369, at no cost to the Federal Government.

“The Port Harcourt to Maiduguri narrow gauge railway will have new branch lines: from Port Harcourt to Bonny and from Port Harcourt to Owerri are new lines.

“There is another connecting to narrow gauge to standard gauge at Kafanchan. There is a branch line from Gombe or before Maiduguri to Damaturu and Gashau.”